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North Carolina's Governors
No North Carolina governor, with the exception of Zebulon B. Vance, has been as venerated as Charles Brantley Aycock (1859-1912), with whose term the Democratic Party inaugurated a seventy-two year hold on the office. The "Education Governor" was born in Wayne County on the farmstead of his parents (the restored birthplace is now a state historic site). The youngest of ten, he attended private academies before graduating from the University of North Carolina, where he honed his debating skills. Aycock distrusted the Republican Party and, reacting to what he viewed as abuses of the political system during Reconstruction, endorsed the idea that politics should be reserved for the white race. "Aycock believed in the right of the white man to rule as profoundly as he believed in God," according to a 1912 biography. As he sought to build a political reputation, Aycock worked on behalf of the public schools. In 1898 he pressed his views on race and education in a series of debates with Populist Cyrus Thompson. In 1899 Aycock worked with legislators to disfranchise black voters by means of literacy tests, poll taxes, and the "grandfather clause." A groundswell of support led to his nomination for governor by the Democrats in 1900. He was elected over Republican Spencer B. Adams. As governor, Aycock, touting the "Dawn of a New Day," continued to press for educational progress. His views on white supremacy notwithstanding, he opposed attempts within the legislature to fund white schools from the white tax base and black schools from the black base. He believed that universal education would lead to higher literacy rates and in time to universal suffrage. After his term, Aycock returned to the practice of law. In 1911 he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Those plans were cut short in 1912 by his death in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was addressing an educational organization. Aycock is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh.
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