Zella Armstrong, the daughter of a Confederate officer, was a force in Chattanooga society in the 1930s through the 1960s. As an author and publisher of The Lookout newspaper, she covered activities of the social set in the region, which included Knoxville, Nashville, Atlanta and other points generally in the South.
The comings and goings of vacationers to New England for the summer, travelers on the Grand European Tour, adventurers visiting the Orient, or family excursions to Florida or St. Louis interested those who remained at home. “Miss Zella” happily gathered reports of all these newsy items for her paper. She included weddings and engagements, parties, visiting guests, births, deaths, family stories, poetry, gardens, homes and anything else that might please her readers.
As the nation recovered from the Great Depression, these tidbits provided relief and a look outward for Miss Zella’s region of the world. Those who could not go on a Grand Tour could read about the people who did and live vicariously.
The impact of the Great Depression and Miss Zella’s interest in her readers led her to imagine a grand ball that would not only entertain and engage young people but also would support some local charities. The Chattanooga Cotton Ball was thus born on Sept. 1, 1933.
Billed as a Fall Fashion Show and Floor Show “For the Benefit of the Children’s Hospital Free Ward Fund and the Chattanooga Museum Association,” the event took place in the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium. The Lookout, Volume 47, No. 19 states, “The identity of the King and Queen of the Chattanooga Cotton Ball is intriguing every one and all sorts of guesses are made. It is said that only one person beside the Queen and her immediate family knows the secret of her identity and that the King’s name has been guarded just as closely.”