He grew up around other children that would go on to have creative histories related to the art mecca they lived in, including local historian Timuel Black, poet and author Gwendolyn Brooks, and artist Charles White.

[5] His request was refused however, with the director noting that they had no openings in the department and that they usually required their taxidermists to have a graduate degree in the practice or existing professional experience and notoriety.

[3] During WWII, Cotton was involved in the naval service as a stenographer[4] and, after returning, wrote another letter to the Field Museum in 1947, this time requesting to showcase his abilities as a volunteer.

[3] He helped to create an adaptive coloring exhibit on birds,[4] but Cotton also branched out into other organisms, working on mammals, reptiles, and eventually insects and the salmon display.

[3] Some of the techniques he developed for taxidermy include how to replicate animals that have no hair on their skin, particularly reptiles, with one example being making a snapping turtle out of the bioplastic cellulose acetate.