Charles Brantley Aycock Collection, PC.50
Abstract
Charles Brantley Aycock, known as the educational governor of North Carolina, was, born in 1859 in Wayne County. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in three years, he began to practice law in Goldsboro in 1881. In 1900 he was elected governor on a platform of white supremacy and the promise of an improved educational system in North Carolina. After his term as governor, he resumed his law practice in Goldsboro and later in Raleigh. He returned to political life in 1911 by announcing his candidacy for the United States Senate, but he died suddenly on April 4, 1912, while making a speech in Birmingham, Alabama. Although the Charles Aycock Collection contains a few Aycock Papers, Clarence Poe accumulated the great majority of the material. Poe was married to Aycock's daughter Alice and was instrumental in establishing various memorials to the former governor. Poe's papers in connection with these projects form most of the collection. The Aycock papers in the collection include correspondence, speeches, letter press books, transcripts of a trial, and miscellaneous notes made by Aycock.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Charles Brantley Aycock Collection
- Call Number
- PC.50
- Creator
- Poe, Clarence Hamilton, 1881-1964
- Date
- 1880 - 1959
- Extent
- 1454.00 items
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.50, Charles Brantley Aycock Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Biographical Note
Charles Brantley Aycock is recognized as North Carolina's "Education Governor." During his time in office, 877 libraries were added in rural schools, statewide adoption of textbooks was establish, teaching standards and teacher pay were raised, and hundreds of new schools were built. By the end of Aycock's term as governor, North Carolina's ranking among states by the amount of money spent on public education moved from thirty-second to twenty-first.
Born in 1859 in Wayne County to Benjamin Aycock and Serena Hooks Aycock. Charles Brantley Aycock was the youngest of ten children and attended private schools in Fremont and Wilson. When he was sixteen years old, he taught public school in Fremont for a term. He went to college in 1877 and, after graduating from the University of North Carolina in three years, he began to practice law in Goldsboro in 1881.
From 1880 on, Aycock was very active in the Democratic Party, often making speeches on behalf of both local and national candidates for various offices. He attempted to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. House of Representatives in the Third Congressional District in 1890, but he withdrew from the running due to a deadlock in the voting. During this time he was also active in education, campaigning for a special tax for schools in Goldsboro in 1881 and serving as Wayne County Superintendent of Public Schools from 1881-1882. In 1893 Aycock was appointed the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina and he remained in that capacity until 1897. Two years later, he worked with Democratic lawmakers to propose an amendment to the state constitution requiring voters to pass a literacy test and pay a poll tax. The amendment was eventually passed in the same 1900 election in which Aycock was elected governor.
Aycock ran for governor on a platform of white supremacy and the promise of an improved educational system in North Carolina. After his term ended, he resumed his law practice in Goldsboro and later in Raleigh. He returned to political life in 1911 by announcing his candidacy for the United States Senate, but he died suddenly on April 4, 1912, while making a speech in Birmingham, Alabama. Aycock was married twice - to Varina Davis Woodard in 1881, with whom he had three children, and to her sister Cora in 1891, who gave birth to seven children. Alice Aycock, Charles Brantley Aycock's daughter from his first marriage, married Clarence Poe.
For further biographical information on Aycock, see William S. Powell (ed.), , Vol. 1, 73-75; and Samuel A. Ashe (ed.), , Vol. I, 76-92.
Contents of the Collection
1. Collected Papers,1880-1959
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
The items listed below were given by Dr. Clarence Poe, Raleigh, North Carolina. Biennial Report, 1930-1932: newspaper clippings and copy of letter; July 25, 1934: copies of letters, Clarence Poe to Dr. Horace Williams (July 10, 1934) and Dr. Williams to Poe (July 21, 1934); May 11, 1945: 3 mimeographed copies of Universal Education speech; July 16, 1958: photocopies of 2 letters, Aycock to Professor E. C. Brooks (April 1, 1912) and Aycock to Col. A. C. Davis (September 27, 1904); September 16, 1958: correspondence, newspaper clippings, material pertaining to Aycock Memorial; June 12, 1959: miscellaneous correspondence, speeches, photographs, newspaper clippings, etc., scrapbook of newspaper clippings; October 29, 1959: 1 page typed recollection of Clarence Poe concerning Governor Aycock's Approach to Voters When Advocating School Taxes; February 11, 1960: 2 letters, memo of conversation and notes for speech. Other material received - Biennial Report, 1930-1932: 1 letter presented by R. W. Winston; October 22, 1962: photocopy of 1910 note, 2 letters (1900 and 1903), newspaper clipping (n.d.), and typewritten copy of 3 letters (1890 and 1899) transferred from Historic Sites Division, Dept. of Archives and History.