Carita Doggett Corse (1891–1978) was a pioneering Florida historian, suffragette, and the force behind one of the most successful New Deal arts programs in the country. Born in Jacksonville, educated at Vassar and Columbia, Corse believed deeply in the power of everyday stories, and she spent her life making sure Florida’s were preserved.
As head of the Florida Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) from 1935–1942, she oversaw the creation of more than 90 publications, including the iconic Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State (1939). She hired and mentored writers of all backgrounds, including Zora Neale Hurston, and made Florida one of the only Southern states with a dedicated “Negro Writers’ Unit.” These fieldworkers documented turpentine camps, spirituals, folktales, and firsthand accounts of formerly enslaved Floridians, preserving voices that would have otherwise been lost.
Corse was also a women’s rights activist, marching for suffrage and later founding the first Planned Parenthood chapter in Florida, where she advocated for women’s health access at a time when it was controversial to do so.
She authored several important works of Florida history, including:
• Dr. Andrew Turnbull and the New Smyrna Colony of Florida (1919)
• The Key to the Golden Islands (1931)
• Shrine of the Water Gods (1935)
• The Fountain of Youth and Ancient Indian Village (1937)
• The Story of Jacksonville (ca. 1939)
Her work blended rigorous scholarship with accessible storytelling, and helped lay the foundation for the field of Florida folklore and oral history. In 1997, she was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. Today, her legacy lives on in archives, guidebooks, and the hundreds of WPA interviews she made possible.
Leave a Reply