The Doggett-Tucker House is the childhood home of Carita Doggett Corse (1891-1978), daughter of Judge and Mrs. John Locke Doggett. Corse is best remembered for her service as the Florida State Director of the Federal Writers' Project, part of the Depression Era's Work Projects Administration (WPA). From its inception in 1935, Corse served as state director, where she vigorously advocated African-American participation in the collection and writing of Florida history.

During this time, she became a mentor to writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. As her supervisor, Corse is credited with giving Hurston the leeway that her artistic personality required, affording her the freedom to complete her novel "Moses: Man of the Mountain."

Born in Jacksonville, Corse earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vassar College in 1913 and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1916. The mother of four children, in 1943, Corse became the Florida State Director of the newly created Planned Parenthood where she advocated for the right for women to control their own biological destiny.

In her letters, speeches, and publications, Corse eloquently described Florida's rich heritage. She earned distinction as a historian, writing "Dr. Andrew Turnbull and the New Smyrna Colony" (1919) and "Key to the Golden Islands" (1931). Corse Received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of the South in 1932. She died in Jacksonville in 1978 at the age of 87.

Information provided by the Florida Division of Historical Resources.