Aycock Residence Hall
Completed in 1924, Aycock was one of three new dorms built on the east side of campus (Graham and Lewis are the others). It was named in 1928 for Charles Brantley Aycock. At the time Aycock was one of the most revered men in the state. A member of the UNC class of 1880, Aycock was a successful lawyer and served as North Carolina governor from 1901 to 1905. He was known as the education governor for his work to expand public schools for white students in North Carolina. Aycock was also known as a skilled speaker. He traveled the state during the 1898 "white supremacy" campaign, helping spread fear and resentment of African Americans among white voters. His efforts were successful, and he was rewarded by Democratic Party leaders, who nominated him for governor a few years later. As governor, Aycock helped pass new laws that effectively disenfranchised African American voters and established a system of racial segregation and discrimination that would take more than a half century to dismantle. In recognition of Aycock's undeniably racist speeches and actions, three North Carolina universities have chosen to remove Aycock's name from buildings on their campuses: East Carolina University and Duke University renamed residence halls in 2015 and UNC-Greensboro renamed its Aycock Auditorium in 2016.
Date Established: 1924
Date Range: 1924 – Present
Aycock Residence Hall, ca. 1950s. UNC Photo Lab Collection, North Carolina Collection Photo Archives, Wilson Library.