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 include correspondence, speeches, letter press books, transcripts of a trial, and miscellaneous notes made by Aycock. One letter press book (l893-l897), containing 486 items, was written during his term as District Attorney for the United States Circuit Court, Eastern District of North Carolina. The letters discuss various legal cases, including one called From the letters, it would appear that the operation of illegal stills was quite a problem in eastern North Carolina.

The next largest group of papers concerns Aycock's campaign for the United States Senate in 1912. Included are letters received by Aycock concerning his candidacy and a letter press book containing copies of 63 letters written by Aycock during the campaign. He said he did not want to depend on an organization, machine, or money--he had confidence in the people. He refused to say anything bad about the other candidates, and he did not want to spend over $2,000 in the campaign. The letters between the four candidates agreeing to a primary are included (January, 1912), as is a group of letters concerning the drinking charges made against Aycock in the course of the campaign, (October, 1911-April, 1912). Aycock died before he began his formal canvassing of the state.

Other subjects discussed in the Aycock papers are a libel suit against the News and Observer (September 2, 1911) and a possible enlargement of the Capitol or the construction of a new state building (October 24, 1910). Among the miscellaneous items are fragments of a speech in Aycock's handwriting and the original copies of two speeches that were apparently used by Aycock when delivering them.

The items relating to Poe's connection with Aycock include 13 letters written by Aycock to Poe between 1902 and 1912 and a copy of an Aycock letter in 1912 concerning the up coming marriage of Poe. One letter of particular interest is one in which Aycock discusses the lynchings that had occurred during his administration (October 5, 1903). The remainder of the collection was created after Aycock's death.

Immediately after Aycock's death, Poe and R. D. W. Connor began to collect reminiscences and other material about Aycock to be included in a book, (Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1912 . The correspondence of Connor and Poe in this project as well as the contributions made by Aycock's friends for the book are included in the collection. The reminiscences were written by many people, including his private secretary, P. M. Pearsall, his law partner, R. W. Winston, and a prisoner whom he had pardoned; and they discussed many facets of his life from his boyhood to his death. Other material in the collection which relates to the book are copies of many of Aycock's speeches, speeches made by others about Aycock, notes concerning the book, and copies of portions of it. At one time, the book was supposed to have included the letters as well as the speeches of Aycock. Perhaps for this reason there are transcripts of many of the letters in the collection as well as transcripts of letters not in the collection. It should be added that Poe collected reminiscences and comments about Aycock throughout his life, and there are such items in the collection dated as late as 1959.

There are several minor groups of correspondence in the collection. One group of letters is between Poe and Oliver Orr, Aycock's biographer (, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1961). This group of correspondence concerns the book that Orr was writing and Poe's aid to him. Another group of letters concerns Mrs. Aycock. Included are Poe's accounting to her of the progress of the sales of the book and a letter from Governor Broughton telling her of her appointment as President of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Railroad Company. There is a small group of material concerning a Howard Chandler Christy portrait of Aycock that was hung in the House of Representatives chamber in the Capitol in 1951, on the 50th anniversary of Aycock's inauguration, and there are also several letters concerning the naming of a ship in honor of Aycock (January-February, 1943).

The transcripts of the letters not in this collection discuss a wide range of topics: railroad rates (January 15, 1908), protective tariffs (May 20 and n.d., 1909), compulsory education (May, 1910 and November, 1909), the racial controversy (November 6, 1903), and the North Carolina Supreme Court decision allowing the legislature to declare a crime a petty misdemeanor (October 18 and n.d., 1909).

The transcripts of Volumes V and VI of the case of are in the collection. Aycock's closing speech on behalf of the American Tobacco Company is included in these volumes.

There is an extensive collection of newspaper clippings from l894 to 1959. They cover all phases of Aycock's life and death as well as some of the memorials which honor him. The ceremonies in 1951 concerning the 50th annivesary of his inauguration, the erection of his statue on Capitol Square, and the restoration of his birthplace are some of the topics covered by the clippings. There are also various programs, pamphlets, and photographs concerning some of the Aycock memorials including the architect's drawing of the restored birthplace.

Among the miscellaneous material are two biographical sketches and some genealogical information concerning the Aycocks, Woodards, and other families related to Aycock.