Cora Lily Woodard Aycock | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the North Carolina Railroad | |
| In role 1933–1937 | |
| Governor | John C. B. Ehringhaus |
| Preceded by | Fanny Yarborough Bickett |
| First Lady of North Carolina | |
| In role January 15, 1901 – January 11, 1905 | |
| Governor | Charles Brantley Aycock |
| Preceded by | Sarah Amanda Sanders Russell |
| Succeeded by | Cornelia Deaderick Glenn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cora Lily Woodard October 11, 1868 Wilson, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | March 13, 1952 (aged 83) |
| Resting place | Historic Oakwood Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Charles Brantley Aycock |
| Children | 7 |
| Parent(s) | William Woodard Delphia Rountree |
| Residence | Executive Mansion (official) |
| Education | Wilson Collegiate Institute Mary Baldwin College |
| Occupation | farmer, political hostess, railway executive |
Cora Lily Woodard Aycock (October 11, 1868 – March 13, 1952) was an American political hostess, farmer, and railway executive. As the second wife of Governor Charles Brantley Aycock, she served as First Lady of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905. While her husband was an outspoken white supremacist and segregationist, she was known to be rather apolitical but staunchly supported her husband's educational reforms for public schools. Aycock spent her time as first lady entertaining guests at small gatherings at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, raising her seven children and two surviving stepchildren, and instructing her children in music. Aycock was the first North Carolinian first lady to give birth at the executive mansion.
After her husband's death in 1912 left her without much of an estate, Aycock made a modest income by selling tobacco from her farm in Wilson County and selling extra milk and produce from her 1-acre lot in Raleigh. She worked with her son-in-law, the writer Clarence Hamilton Poe, to publish The Life and Speeches of Charles B. Aycock. In the 1930s, she was appointed as the President of the North Carolina Railroad by Governor John C. B. Ehringhaus.