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thesis entitled

Contributions of African American Women To Post-
Secondary Education - A Pioneer in The Tradition
Of Service And Scholarship - EVA BEATRICE DYKES
1893-1986

presented by

Catherine M. Johnson

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CONTRIBUTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
TO POST -SECONDARY EDUCATION
A PIONEER IN THE TRADITION OF SERVICE AND SCHOLARSHIP
EVA BEATRICE DYKES
1893-1986

BY

Catherine Marie Johnson

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of American Studies

1992

CONTRIBUTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
TO POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
A PIONEER IN THE TRADITION OF SERVICE AND SCHOLARSHIP
EVA BEATRICE DYKES
1893-1986

BY
Catherine Marie Johnson
This biographical thesis explores the life and intellectual contributions of
Eva Beatrice Dykes, the first African American woman to complete the
requirements for a PhD. The first section of this thesis includes a brief discussion
of the history of educational opportunities for African Americans in Washington,
DC. The second section reviews Dykes’ family history and education, and career
as a post-secondary educator. The final section reviews Dykes’ published articles

and books.

1

The publication of Paula Giddings' WW
813W signaled the coming of age of the
reclamation and dissemination of historical narratives focusing on the experience
of African American women. In the eight years since W
publication, histories of black women have proliferated. A popular form of
historical narrative is the biography or biographies of a famous African American
heroine. or heroines. One of the most useful examples of these is Dorothy
Sterling's MW which explores the lives of 19th and
20th century leaders Ellen Craft, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Church Terrell. The lives
of African American novelists, poets and playwrights have been explored in a vast
array of biographies, from Gloria T. Hull's biographical/critical study of Harlem
Renaissance poets Angelina Weld-Grimke', Alice Dunbar Nelson, and Georgia
Douglass Johnson; W to Robert Hemenway‘s. biography of
Zora Neale Hurston.

The experience of lesser known, working and professional women has also

been explored. The history of African American women in the professions is
eXplored in Darlene Clark Hine'S. W

W and in Sarah Lawrence
Lightfoot's W The eXPerienCe of African

American women during slavery has been explored in Deborah Gray White's
Wu. and in Gerda Lerner's W
W- Leona Gabel's WW
Wkanmmple ofastudyofanAfiican

American woman scholar and intellectual. This study serves as a sketch of the life,
career and intellectual contributions of an African American scholar and educator,

Eva Beatrice Dykes.

Dr. Dykes is an important figure in the history of American scholarship not
only because she was black, female and-one of the first black and female persons
to obtain a Phd, but because her blackness and her femaleness brought to
American scholarship a perspective that was deliberately absent from the record.
Not only did she believe that writings by and about African Americans' deserved
a place in the academy, she actively participated in the introduction of these
writings. into academic and scholarly discourse. Her role as a foremother for
African American women who would in the future consider entering the field of
academia, cannot be overlooked. Although most people outside of Washington
DC. or Huntsville, Alabama have never heard of Dr. Dykes the high standards of
excellence and service she achieved remain in the records and will always be a
demonstration of the potential of African American Women. Dykes was a
product and producer of the enduring legacy of the time in which she lived. Born
just thirty short years after the system of slavery was abolished, Dykes came into
adulthood during a period of unprecedented black artistic and intellectual
expression, the Harlem Renaissance period.

The most enduring legacy of the "Harlem Renaissance" period was the
establishment of a distinctive black urban art form inspired and created
especially—though not exclusively by Harlem's black citizenry. During this period
African American history and culture penetrated the academy, as well as the
streets. The integration of black literature and history into the academy is one of
the most uncelebrated yet notable crusades in American intellectual and
institutional history. One of the principle participants in the early movement to
insert the black experience into college and university curriculum was an African
American woman who received the PhD. in 1921, Eva Beatrice Dykes.

Dykes is an important figure in African American history, not only because
of her personal accomplishments but because she was a beneficiary of the legacy

2

of quality education established for African Americans in our nation's capital prior
to and immediately following the Civil War. The story of Dykes' life and
intellectual work is also a story of the success of African American educational
institutions in Washington D.C..

The public school system played an important role in United States
history. The belief that everyone is entitled to a basic education was, and remains a
revolutionary idea. However, for most of the nation's history, the majority of
African Americans were barred from entering these schools by law and by
custom. In some communities African American free men and women were able
to obtain a private education. Throughout the South it was illegal to teach slaves to
read before the Civil War. With the establishment of the first school for African
Americans in 1807, Washington DC. was destined to become a leader in African
American education.

According to Winfield 8. Montgomery, after 1800, free African Americans
who resided in the District of Columbia were encouraged rather than prohibited
from obtaining an education. This historical truth is attributed to the belief in the
necessity of education for the sake of the nation's future. This philosophy was
articulated by President Thomas Jefferson. In 1804 the District of Columbia
passed its first public school law, and in 1805 a school was established to "educate
the youth of Washington" whose parents were "unable to defray the expenses of
their education." Although this law, and another law which followed it in
Georgetown in 1815 did not specify that this education in the District of Columbia

or in Georgetown was exclusively for white children, the Jim Crow laws of

Maryland and Virginia which also applied to the nations's capital, ensured that
these schools were reserved for the use of whites.1

The Bell Schoolhouse was founded in 1807 by three ex-slaves who had
"just" purchased their freedom, George Bell, Nicholas Franklin, and Moses
Liverpool.2 Remarkably, this school was founded just two short years after the
establishment of the first public school for white children. Although little is
known about the Bell Schoolhouse, its success can be inferred since similar
attempts were soon made. Mr. Bell, Mr Franklin, and Mr. Liverpool showed the
potential for success in an endeavor of this sort and inspired others to do the
same. The rapid growth in ”negro" schools in this period further supports this
point.

By 1861, " -two day, three night, and sixteen Sabbath schools" for free
African Americans had been established in Washington, D.C.3 The day schools
were private and required a nominal fee to enroll.4 Most of these schools were
sponsored by African Americans although a few were sponsored by wealthy
whites who were primarily abolitionists and educators. The teachers were also
mostly black though there were a few white teachers.5 Most of these schools were
elementary schools whose function was to teach their students basic literacy
reading, writing, and arithmetic. Many of these schools met in private homes and

church basements. A few schools, including the Bell Schoolhouse, met in small

 

1 Lillian G. Dabney, ' h '
W (Washington D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press,
1949) p. 5.

2 Winfield 5 Montgomery. W
W (Washington D. C.: Smith Brothers Printers,
1907), p. 4.

3 Dabney, p. 4.

41bid., p.14.

5 Montgomery, p. 4.

school houses built especially for them6 Adults as well as children attended these
schools, although the night and Sabbath schools were more likely to be attended
by the adults than the day schools.

There were a number of attempts to provide education beyond the
elementary level for the District of Columbia's growing free African American
community. Between 1860 and 1870, the free African American population of the
nations capital increased by 203%.7 Most of the high schools and normal schools
were established by African Americans since the majority of white sponsors
either feared the consequences of; or doubted the potential of blacks to succeed
in higher education. One of the earliest attempts to establish a secondary school
occurred in December of 1851, when Myrtilla Miner, a young white woman from
New York, opened a normal school for free African American women.8

In spite of the remarkable growth of African American educational
institutions in the District of Columbia, the free African American community in
BC was not immune to the problems of racism that affected the rest of black
America. Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831, and the "snow riot" of 1835 slowed
the establishment of new schools. In fact many existing schools were closed
during this period due to white fear and racial violence. After the Civil War white
philanthropy and national government support for black education increased
markedly, reaching its apex in the establishment of Howard University in 1867.

Howard University was established through co-operative efforts between
the First Congregational Church of Washington, the American Missionary
Association, and the Freedman's Bureau.9 Originally intended to be a theological

seminary, the school would become Howard University. It bears the name of

 

6 Dabney, p. 17.
7 Dabney, pp. 24-25.
3 Dabney, p. 14.
9 Dabney, p. 47.

General Oliver 0. Howard, who originally suggested that the new institution should
be "a real university" rather than a theological seminary. 10

The founders of the Bell Schoolhouse and Howard University launched a
new culture of scholarship and opportunity at the nations capital. Into this culture
of scholarship, service, and perseverance through struggle, Eva Beatrice Dykes
was born on August 13, 1893. Inspirited by a birthright of intellectual excellence
and community service, Dykes would become the first African American woman
to complete the requirements for a PhD.

In" 3.. . 101t~LILL¢ i 0 '-.rr Loner-.10.
Charles V. Willie emphasizes the important role the ”family of orientation" plays
in the development of a scholar.11 The influence of the Dykes' maternal
grandparents,the Howard's, and her' paternal grandparents, the Dykes', on Eva, is
clearly evident. Thirty-five years after slavery had ended, the Howard and Dykes
families had taken advantage of every opportunity, and established themselves as a
part of Washington D.C.'s growing, educated, black elite. .

Dykes' maternal grandparents, John and Rebecca Howard, had been slaves
on the cotton plantation of Governor Warfield of Howard County, Maryland”.
After the Emancipation Proclamation took effect they, like many other newly
freed blacks, migrated to the District of Columbia in search of government jobs
and educational opportunities for their children. In fact, between 1860 and 1870,
the black population of Washington D,C. increased from 14,316 to 43,404.13 These

 

10 Ibid., p. 48.

'1 Charles V Willie WWW
Career, (Lanham, MD. University Press of America, 1986) pp. 103—105. Willie
defines the family of orientation as social unit "in which the offspring receives
nurturance, support protection, and unconditional love" p. 103.

12 HR. Ford "A Modern Educator" in Wine, July 1935?, p 9
(Quote comes from a photocopy of the original text the original has been lost.)

13 Dabney, pp. 24-25.

emigrants hoped to secure both physical and intellectual freedom for themselves
and for their children.

The fact that higher education was very important to the Howard family is
evident in the family's unusual educational background. John and Rebecca
Howard's four children - Floda, John Jr., James, and Martha Ann attended and
graduated from the private Howard University Preparatory School. Eva's oldest
uncle Ploda Howard graduated with honors in 1888. Another uncle, John Howard,
Jr., also graduated from the preparatory school, went on to earn a Bachelor of
Arts from the College of Arts and Science at Howard, and eventually became a
teacher in Oklahoma.14

Dykes' third uncle, James Howard had a profound influence on her
education, her religious life, and her chosen profession, James Howard, graduated
from the preparatory school in 1876 and went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts
from Howard University's College of Liberal Arts in 1879. He then earned an MD.
degree from Howard University's Medical School in 1883, and in 1885 became the
fifth student to earn a Master of Arts degree from Howard University's College of
Arts and Letters.15

Dykes mother, Martha Ann, also attended Howard in the early 1880's. She
did not graduate however, presumably due to a recurrent illness. While at
Howard, Martha Ann met James Stanley Dykes, who had matriculated at Howard
in 1883. While at Howard, James Stanley Dykes was an honor student who tutored

other students in Greek and Math. In 1887 James Dykes received his Bachelor of

 

1" DeWitt S. erliarns, SW (Washington 00:
Review and Herald, Publishing Association, 1985), p. 17. DeWitt Williams, ED.D.,
MPH. is a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church and was an associate of
Dykes, he is not an historian.

15 Williams, p. 11.

Arts Degree. James Stanley Dykes and Martha Ann Howard married and had three
children, Florence, Eva, and Anita.

When Dykes was very young, James Stanley Dykes deserted the family.
Martha Ann, Eva, and her two sisters went to live with their uncle James Howard
until Martha Ann married Mr. Pumphrey a "contractor" a few years later. James
Dykes eventually remarried and moved to Ha gerstown, Maryland where he was
employed as a principle of a public school. His infrequent visits were important
to Dykes, who admired his intelligence and his will to
work hard. 16

The second born in a family of three daughters, Dykes was raised in an
environment which nourished and encouraged academic excellence. As Williams'
notes, "...(h)eredity and environment were preparing Eva for a love of
academia."17 Not only were her parents and uncles educators, many of her
cousins were also college trained teachers in Maryland and Washington D.C.. At a
time when many white Americans and most African Americans were illiterate,
Dykes was exposed to Greek, Latin, French, music, and the “classics" of Western
literature. At a time when so few African American's had access to even a high
school education, Dykes was a second generation college graduate.

Even as a child, Dykes had a great love of reading and was particularly fond
of Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley inspired in Dykes a deep respect for English, Latin,
and literature as well as a desire to help Others.18 Dykes was similar to Phillis in

that she too became known for her talents at an early age. She had established a

 

16 Williams p. 20.
17 Ibid., p. 18.
13 Ibid., p. 20.

reputation for herself as a pianist, and by age seven she was sought after by a
number of Baptist and Methodist churches in Washington D.C..19

Dykes began to study French at a very young age. She and her sister
Florence were enrolled in the Berlitz French School by their uncle James. The
Berlitz French School did not allow African Americans to enroll at that time, but
Eva and Florence were given private lessons at the school, due to James Howard's
connections with the State Department.20

From the first through the fourth grades, Dykes attended the Howard
University Teacher's Training School. She was inspired by the diligence and
motivation of the young student teachers who so patiently taught the young
students Latin, Greek, English and Literature. Her excellent education continued .at
the Lucretia Mott School For Girls (established 1909), which she attended from the
fifth through the eighth grades.21 Dykes was inspired by the example of Lucretia
Mott, suffragette and abolitionist and decided that she would like some day to help
others like herself.”-

Dykes attended the M Street School from 1907-1910. The M Street School
was erected on M Street in September of 1891. M Street has the distinction of
being the first Public High School for African Americans in the United States. It is
also the oldest public high school in the nation.23 The school has a illustrious

 

19 Dana Brewer Bathurst, Eva Dykes: A Star to Show the Way. MW
WKHuntsville, Ala: Writers Consortium Books, 1989) PD. 29-
31.

20 Williams, p. 21.

Dr Howard served as a clerk with the US War Department, in Washington D.C..

21 Dabney, p. 131.

According to Lillian G. Dabney, the Lucretia Mott School was a public school
which was established in 1909. If Mr. Williams data is correct Eva would have
attended the school from 1903-1906. If Dr. Dykes attended Lucretia Mott in this
period it is likely that it was still a private school or was not yet registered with the
school district

7-2 Williams, p. 24.

23 Dabney, p. 139.

record of students and staff like no other black public high school in history. The
goal of the M Street school was to prepare its students for college. Most of the
African American intelligentsia of the late 19th century and the early to mid 20th
century were affiliated with the school either as staff or students or both. In 1916,
M Street was moved to a newer building, where it resides today and was renamed
the Dunbar School, in honor of the poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar.24 Among the
most notable of M Street School Alumni was Howard University Dean of the
School of Law and famous civil rights era attorney Charles Hamilton Houston.25

Although she entered the M Street School one year after Anna Julia Cooper
was excused from her position as principal, it is apparent that Cooper's legacy to
the M Street school (instituting educational reforms, insisting on (a rigorous)
academic curriculum, and ”channelling Black students into the most prestigious
universities in the country’26) affected Dykes as well. As a testament to the
institutions commitment to academics, it is interesting to note that one of the first
student organizations at M Street or Dunbar High was a High School Literary Club
which began in 1899.27 It is likely that due to her love of literature, Dykes
belonged to this club.

In the interview with historian Merze Tate in 1977, Dykes remembers that
she studied Latin, English, and Mathematics throughout high school.28 She took

 

24 Ibid., p. 152.

25 See 3Genna Rae McNeil, WWW“:

WWQhfladelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983)

2.8.60
pPaula Giddings, ‘L’Ar -- .. ' u , ' ._ '

ammmew York: Bantam Books) 1985, p. 105. Giddings attributes

Cooper's not being "rehired" from her position as principal of the M Street

School to her "insistence on an academic curriculum" which "drew charges of

subordination from the (school) board."

27 Dabney, WW1) 237.

23 Merze Tate, "Interview with Eva B. Dykes, November 30- December 1,1977,"
P - ( Cambridge, MA: Schleshenger

Library, Radcliffe College, 1980) p. 14.

 

10

the college prep courses and was remembered by a fellow student as being one
who "grasped the material quickly, enjoyed her classes and enthusiastically

completed her required work. "29 Eva graduated from M Street High School at the
top of her class in 1910.

In the fall of 1910, Eva matriculated at Howard University, ostensibly due to
her strong familial ties to the school, but more than likely because of its strong
reputation and its close proximity to her mother, uncle and sisters. Around this
time the role higher education for African Americans would play in their lives and
in the life of the community was being enthusiastically debated throughout the
country. Some people, following the lead of Booker T. Washington, held that the
most important form of education for African Americans was industrial
education. Others followed the lead of W.E.B. DuBois, who argued that the
"development of the mind" must supersede the development of a manual trade.
Eva's future career choice as a scholar of literature and languages certainly
supports the notion that she was more in favor of the "DuBoisian" perspective.

While enrolled at Howard, Eva continued to study Latin and English. She
also began to study German. She was especially fond of her literature and language
courses. The education she received at Howard was arguably the best of liberal
arts educations available to African Americans at this time. Like DuBois, Eva
recognized the value of studying the humanities. In a 1968, article in the We
Times Eva explained to staff columnist Virgil Christianson what she considered to
be the value of literature and literary study;

When looked at quickly, literature doesn't seem to stand up as a very
practical subject, . . . certainly one doesn't construct a building with

 

29 Williams, W P- 24-

ll

a degree in English, but literature has a value in its message.
Literature helps a peoples spirit and helps preserve the language.30

Eva received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, summa cum laude in
May of 1914. Throughout her undergraduate career, Eva maintained the highest
grade point average in the history of the University. In addition to giving the
valedictorian address at her graduation, she was awarded a $10 scholarship for
academic excellence from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Beginning in the fall 1914, Eva began her career in academia. She taught
English and Latin at the Walden University in Nashville Tennessee for one year.
Walden University would eventually become Meharry Medical College. In the
interview with Merze Tate she recalls that she was paid $25.00 a month plus room,
board and expenses.31 This initial experience as a college educator obviously
impressed her and magnified her love of language and literature and her desire to
encourage others to do the same. In an article for W written by
Dykes in February 1947, she articulates the role the useful citizen must play in
society. This passage reveals a great deal of Dykes own feelings about the choice
and practice of a profession

The useful citizen primarily is one who has developed in such a way
as that he may be successful in his vocation He finds his place in
society and makes a definite contribution to the welfare of others. . .
he helps point men and women to higher standards, to a life free

from the undermining influences of crime, ignorance and hate.32

It was likely that the desire to be successful in her chosen vocation is what made
Dykes consider Radcliffe. Matriculating at Radcliffe was a good idea for a number

of reasons. Not only was Radcliffe the "women's Harvard" and the "best"

 

3°Virgil Christianson, "Much Yet to Learn: Pioneering Teacher Says 45 Years on
Job Not Enough," M August 1968: p.?.

31Merze Tate " Interview with Eva B. Dykes," p.6.

32 Eva B. Dykes, “Whither Modern Education," MW 13 (February
1947) p. 6.

12

education a woman could obtain, single sex colleges, like Radcliffe, were resumed
to be more concerned with the intellectual development of their female students.
They were also more likely to have female faculty and staff who could function as
mentors for their students.33

In the Fall of 1915, with the encouragement and financial support of her
uncle, Dr. James Howard, Eva entered Radcliffe as an unclassified student. In spite
of the fact that she had graduated at the top of her class at Howard University, the
admissions committee at Radcliffe did not feel that she was qualified to enter their
graduate program. They assumed that the education she received at Howard was
of an inferior standard. Eva, no doubt surprised the Radcliffe College community
by achieving superior grades in honors English, Latin, French, Philosophy, and
Music courses. By her second year she had secured a $200.00 per year tuition
scholarship from Radcliffe College.

In 1917 she graduated from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor's or Arts
degree in English. Again Eva excelled and graduated magna cum laude and in the
top 13% of her class. She had proved that the "brightest and the best“ students
from historically black colleges could compete with, and supersede the
achievements of New England's most "pampered daughters". Her diploma read;
"(O)ur student EVA BEATRICE DYKES has fulfilled Magna cum Laude the
requirements usually demanded by our Institution for the obtention of the degree
of BACHELOR OF THE ARTS - and besides, has deserved the honors in the
English language-we have granted her the degree. . . ”34 In 1940, she was further

 

33 Lynn G. Gordon. W (New
Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1990) p.44.

34 L.B.R. Briggs, President of Radcliffe College. Radcliffe College degree certificate
1921. Eva B. Dykes Library Archives, Oakwood College, Huntsville Alabama.

13

honored for her academic achievements as an undergraduate at Radcliffe by being
elected to the Iota chapter of Phi Beta Kappa-35

In 1918 she received her Master's of Arts degree in English from Radcliffe,
and prepared to enter the Ph.D program. During this period, Eva indulged her
interest in history and visited historical societies in Pennsylvania and Boston. On
March 21, 1921, five years after receiving her Bachelor's of Arts Degree from
Radcliffe, Eva completed the requirements for her PhD. in English Philology. As
former student, close friend, and associate Mervyn A. Warren put it, '(s)he (had)
weathered the pressure of achievement and wore the distinction of pioneering
black women's liberation in graduate education, advancing the cause of all women,
white or black, at the same time."36 Her doctoral dissertation focused on Pope's
influence in America, 1710-1850. When completed, it was over 600 pages long.

Of her years at Radcliffe and her course of study which demonstrate the
high level of classical training Dykes received she recalls;

. . . I took a number of courses. At that time we had to take courses
foreign to English. I took Gothic, which is a dead language.
Although I had German at Howard, I also passed a course in
German - an examination rather... I decided to take my oral exam in
French, because that was akin to Latin. And though I had only one
year of French, in school, it being one of the romance languages I
passed it because of my knowledge of Latin-37

Unfortunately Dykes' social experience at Radcliffe is not discussed in
either the DeWitt S. Williams biography or in the articles or in the interviews. The
feeling of isolation she no doubt experienced while at Radcliffe College therefore

is not recorded. We can get some sense of her experience however by reviewing

 

35 Jane Knowles, Radcliffe College Archives, "Dykes, Eva Beatrice '17 AM. '18
PhD. '21, 1893- r

35 Mervyn A. Warren, "1 Am 50 Ordinary," W 1986, p.13.

37M6erze Tate. Interview with Eva B. Dykes. November 30—December 1, 1977,
p.1 .

14

studies which explore the experience of female students at women's colleges in
this period. In, W Barbara Solomon points
out that during this period, the life of the co-ed was the life of a "joiner." Literary
Societies, Sufl’ragette Clubs, and Leagues and sororities sprung up and served as an
outlet for these "serious-minded" young women. As Radcfifle's first African
American PhD. candidate, Eva was no doubt given the “outsider" status
experienced by African Americans, other racial minorities, catholics, and ethnic
minorities.”8 As an "outsider" Dykes was excluded from participation in most if
not all of the social activities of the college. Solomon also discusses the more
blatant types of social ostracism experienced by African Americans in particular.
On a number of occasions at Radcliffe, Oberlin and Vassar white students refused
to sit next to, or even be in sight of, their African American classmates in
cafeterias and libraries. Another example of the problems faced by African
American students who attended non-historically black colleges in this era was
housing difficulties. Dykes was not allowed to live in the college dormitories so
she boarded with a local family about a mile from campus.

The year 1921 was a very significant year in the history of African American
women's scholarship. In a two month period three African American women
were awarded PhD. '3. The question as to which woman received her PhD first
remains open. Eva modestly admitted that although she finished the requirements
for the degree first, she received her PhD. last of the three. Sadie Tanner Mosell
Alexander of the University of Pennsylvania received her PhD. degree in Law first
and Georgianna Simpson of the University of Chicago received her PhD in

German second.

 

33 Barbara Solomon,

W
W (New Haven, Conn.- Yale University Press, 1985)
p.p 106-109.

15

After graduating from Radcliffe Dykes returned to Washington to teach at
her Alma Mater, the M Street school, which by then had been renamed Dunbar
High School. Dr. Simpson also came to Dunbar High School to teach. While at
Dunbar, Dykes taught English and Latin and supervised oratory contests and
directed plays. As to her effectiveness as a teacher, she was consistently rated
"very good" and "eminently superior" by her fellow faculty in the yearly teacher
rating sheets.39

Most of her students "felt that she worked beyond the call of duty, and
looked up to her as a perfectionist in all she did."40 Many of her students
followed her example and pursued graduate studies and careers in the
professions. A number of her former students eventually became doctors
lawyers and college professors. Two of these students were Charles Drew,
pioneer blood plasma researcher, and William Hastie, who would serve as Dean of
Howard Law School and then in 1946 be appointed governor of the Virgin Islands.
41 During this period she also served as the associate editor of the Howard
Alumnus and was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.42

In 1929, Dykes accepted a position as an Associate Professor of English in
the College of Liberal Arts at Howard University. Before accepting the position,
she informed the dean of the Department of English, G. David Houston that she
would be unable to work duringthe period reserved for the recognition of the
Sabbath, "from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday." 43 This was the era of

the ”New Negro" and as such, Howard University's students and certain ”radical“

 

39 Williams, p. 34-35.

40 Williams, p. 35-36.

41 Ibid, p. 37-38

4W2 (THIRD EDITION) "Dykes
Eva Beatrice" (Brooklyn, New York: Thomas Yenser, Ed and Pub.,1933) pp. 139-
140.

43 Williams, p. 52.

16

members of the faculty (i.e., E. Franan Frazier, Kelly Miller and Alain Locke) were
virulently anti-religious. They regarded religion and religious instruction as a
"means of limiting the race."44 Professor G. David Houston, of the English
Department, called for "less preaching and more teaching," arguing that there had
been until this point "too much inspiration and too little information."45 This
statement suggests that Houston's prejudice against religion and his fear of
potential evangelicalism among the faculty could have prompted him to
recommend to President Mordecai Johnson, that Dykes was "trag(ically)
unemployable" that she had "reservations about service.”6 Fortunately, Dr.
Johnson perceived the glass as being half full rather than half empty and predicted
that Dykes "service" to the University during the other six days of the week would
be better than what most would give in a full week.47

While serving as a faculty member at Howard Dykes participated in the
social, and cultural events the District of Columbia had to offer. Dykes was a
member. of the Round Table Club, one of the finest literary clubs in Washington
D.C., which according to the program kept in her papers met the third Saturday
in every month. She also refined her teaching and communication skills by
attending summer workshops. Dykes also did post-graduate work at the
University of Indiana's Summer Linguistic Institute and attended N.Y.U. as an
auditor. She was active in many college committees and she sponsored and

advised a variety of campus groups.48

 

44 Raymond Wolters,
1920's (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1975) p. 83

45 Wolters, p. 83.

46 Williams, p. 52.
47 Ibid., p. 52.

43 Ibid, p. 52-53.

17

In 1931 she co-authored a critical anthology of African American literature,

MW with fellow Howard

professors, Lorenzo Dow Turner and Otelia Cromwell. In 1942 she published her
first and only solo project, an extensive critical investigation into eighteenth-

century English Romantic thought, It -
W In a 1976 interview for ACHE Television, 2

local Huntsville Alabama cable company, Dr Dykes remembered the inspiration

for WW

When I was teaching a survey course in English at Howard
University, I noticed that Freedom was the watchword of such
Romantic writers like Southey, Coleridge, Wordsworth and others. I
was interested in freedom, and especially the freedom of the Negro;
this fact inspired me to write the book.49

 

As a testament to her teaching ability, community involvement, and
superior scholarship, Eva was voted the all around best teacher in the University
by the faculty of the College of liberal Arts. In 1945, she was awarded the Howard
University Award for Post-Graduate Achievement. At the ceremony Jason C.
Grant, Jr., voiced the love and respect everyone in the Howard University
community had for Dr. Dykes when, as Dewitt William's indicates he declared:

Few graduates of Howard University have led such a rich and varied a
life or one as signalized by so many achievements as has Dr. Eva
Beatrice Dykes. . . Here, then, is a Howard graduate who has lived
and is living a life not narrowed to the confines of a single category,
but a full life characterized by a wide range of important activities
and distinguished achievements. Such a life is in keeping with the
highest humanistic and Christian Ideals of the College of Liberal Arts
of Howard University and thus merits richly such recognition as the
Alumni Award can give.50

As early as 1934, President J.L. Moran of Oakwood College attempted to
lure Dykes away from Howard University to Oakwood in Huntsville Tennessee.

‘9 WM 1986-
50 Williams, p. 59.

 

18

Oakwood was established as a Seventh Day Adventist College and it was primarily
through the church that President Moran became familiar with Dykes' work. In
May of 1940, Dykes traveled to Oakwood College in Huntsville Alabama for the
first time where she gave the commencement address in the college's new
auditorium and administration building. She returned to give a second
commencement address in May of 1944, and by June of 1944 she had decided to
leave Howard University and to teach at Oakwood.51

We may never know definitely, although we may surely speculate, why
Dykes resigned her honored post at the most prestigious black educational
institution in the country to teach at a small, nominally funded, school in rural
Alabama. Howard University offered all that a black academic could hope to gain
and more, substantial government and private funding; a location in one of the
nation's ,most affluent African American communities; a sympathetic, talented,
and well educated faculty and staff; and superior students willing to work hard to
maintain the school's reputation. Leaving Howard University and her family and
friends in the District of Columbia was a momentous step. We may speculate as to
the factors contributing to the personal, religious and professional growth of this
pioneer African American woman academic.

In 1943, Dykes reached a personal milestone when she turned 50, perhaps
leaving Howard and the District of Columbiauthe mecca of African American
intellectual life was an attempt to radically change the course of her life. She had
spent the first half century of her life as a member of a privileged elite, now she
would dedicate her skills to those of her people who were less fortunate.

Perhaps she tired of the political infighting of Howard's faculty. As was

noted earlier, Howard had become a "hotbed" of social and educational rhetoric

 

51 Ibid., p. 72-74.

19

and radicalism. Massive growth of the university in this period, specifically the
establishment of well respected professional schools and colleges, and a growth
in the student population after WWII could have led Dykes to consider a more
intimate college community. 52 The fact that she was a highly respected member
of Howard's male dominated staff who may have realized that because of her
gender she stood little chance of securing advancement to an administrative
position .may have affected her decision. President Moran had requested that she
come to Oakwood and chair the Department of English, a rare opportunity for a
woman in this period. It was likely that she felt she should not pass up this unique.
Finally, perhaps she yearned to be in an atmosphere where religious
instruction stood above secular education. In the August 1947 article, "Whither
Modern Education?" published in the Wanna, Dykes strongly
articulates her increasing dissatisfaction with the educational trends of secular
schools. Dykes main point of contention centers on the issue of evolution, and
how the proliferation of this scientific theory in schools and colleges was
indicative of the eroding social and moral fiber of young people. She writes;

(A)n insidious foe has stealthily worked his way into our curricula
and attacked the foundations of the whole educational fabric. . . This
foe is false teaching in the form of theories of evolution, of the
freedom of the individual from moral restraint, of relative moral
standards and the like.. . . Evolution has bred skepticism, unbelief
and indifference to God and spiritual things. Evolution destroys faith
in God. The education is faulty that teaches it . . "53

Dykes increasing commitment to and personal investment in the growth
of the Seventh Day Adventist church was undoubtedly a strong motivational

factor. She decided to use her talents, and the prestige attached to her advanced

 

52 For more information on the problems facing Howard University faculty in this

period, see; Kenneth R. Manning,
Wmew York: Oxford University Press, 1983.)
S3Dykes, "Whither Modern Education?" p. 6, 18.

20

degree and excellent reputation, for the benefit of her church and her people.
Oakwood, a predominantly black Seventh-Day Adventist institution in Huntsville
Alabama offered the best of both worlds. Dykes realized that it was part of her
mission to assist Oakwood in its progression toward higher academic standards of
achievement.

Dykes was Oakwood College's first professor with a doctorate. Williams
states that her arrival in Huntsville was eagerly anticipated, but the students may
have been somewhat disappointed to see that she was simply a plainly dressed,
diminutive middle-aged woman.54 She is remembered as one who was very
modest and unassuming. She would tell her students to call her Miss Dykes, that
doctor was only an academic title and did not need to be used in the classroom. 55
In spite of her graciousness and humility, her students soon learned why she had ,
such a formidable reputation. She is remembered as one who stressed what she
termed ”the two A's, ‘Audibility' and ‘Academics."'56 Furthermore, Dykes
asserted that grades should not be based on effort but that they should be based
only on performance. Dykes also encouraged her students to do their best by
reminding them of their infinite potential for success. In the following excerpt
from a chapel talk given by Dykes, entitled, "The Paradox of the Impossible"
Dykes, faith in herself and in her students potential and her desire to see them
succeed comes through. In this excerpt Dykes quotes Seventh Day Adventist
founder, Ellen G. White.

If you are defective in manner, in voice, in education, you need not
always remain in that condition. You must continually strive that you
may reach a higher standard, both in education and in religious
experience, that you may become teachers in good things . . . The

 

54 Williams, p. 84.
55Louis B. Reynolds, "She Fulfilled the Impossible Dream" in the 3mm

Herald (January 4, 1973) p. 15-17.
56 Williams, p.85.

21

impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not than you cannot
overcome.S7

While at Oakwood, Dykes was even more active than she had been at
Howard. Besides teaching a full load of classes, she chaired the accreditation
committee, served as chairman of the division of humanities, and headed the
department of English. Dykes saw to it that her faculty had opportunities for
improvement and often requested on their behalf that the college's president
work out financial arrangements for certain teachers who wanted to attend
professional meetings or take study leave.58 She was an effective administrator
who used her influence to positively affect the quality of the students and staff at
Oakwood. According to Louis B. Reynolds, when she chaired the division of
Humanities she would call an annual breakfast meeting where "she lectured to us
from prepared notes on the need for immediate action and she outlined in one—
two-three order what she felt we ought to do.59

Dykes took her position as Chairman of the Division of Humanities very
seriously. In 1955 she circulated a document entitled PLANS FOR THE FIRST
SEMESTER OF 1955-1956 for the DIVISION OF HUMANITIES. Included in this
document is a list of objectives for the English Department. Dykes' impact on
the entire college, is evident in the second and third objectives which stated the
departments intentions to "visit industrial and auxiliary services on campus and
correlate information obtained with oral and written expression in the
classroom," Dykes program of English Cooperation was to be used throughout

the college. Correct grammar usage was to be stressed not only in class rooms but

 

57Eva Dykes, The Paradox of The Impossible: Chapel Talk, (ca. 1959) p. 8.
53 Williams, pp. 90-91.
59Reynolds, p. 17.

22

instead in a variety of "gentle reminders" on posters, billboards, quotations and
films. 60

The "Program in English Cooperation at Oakwood College" was
established in 1958. Dykes served as the sponsor and chairman. The companion
pamphlet to the program, W was printed in September
of 1958 and distributed to all of the freshman students, faculty and staff. The
program required that the faculty make sure that each student be made aware of
the correct use of the written as well as the spoken word. Among other issues the
pamphlet addresses the reasons why poor language skills were so common
among college students, and why it was so difficult to remedy. A passage
attributed to a ”leading member of our staff," blames the problems of modern
students on, modern educational practices, the teaching staff, the communities
from whence the students came, and finally the student.
"(R)oadblocks to the "master(ing) of the English language"

1. The modern emphasis on mass education.

2. Today's concentration on the so-called "progressive
education" now dominating the American scene.

3. The theory (held by the students themselves) that every
student should pass the course, not on the basis of
attainments, but merely on the basis that he or she has
"worked hard and has come to class every day.

4. The use of the "curve" in testing and promoting.

5. The students knowledge of the insistence by educators
that a certain number of students must pass at the end of the
term and the carelessness and indifference resulting

therefrom61

Although the author of this list of "roadblocks" is not mentioned, it can be

assumed that the author is Dykes. To prove this, we need only look at two articles

 

50 Eva Dykes, Plans for the First Semester of 1955-1956 for the Division of
Humanities, (c.1955) EBD Personal Papers, Eva B Dykes Library Archives.

51 Eva Dykes, et. al., WWW the Committee on the
Program In English Cooperation (September, 1958) p. 2-3.

23

. written by Dykes in which these themes are discussed, "Whither Modern
Education," and “I am For the Christian School.”62

Dykes commitment to the basic English skills of Oakwood's students led
her to undertake another project on grammar and communication. In the late
1950's, Dykes co-authoured a book with Florence M. Winslow, Mariam
English, which stresses why every student should be taught to write well, and to
read well. Quoting Francis Bacon, the authors of the manual state; "Writing .
maketh an exact man," and "Reading maketh a full man."63 This unpublished
manuscript assists in the acquisition of basic technical grammar skills. It is
presented in a Problem/Solution format and peppered with biblical phrases and
Christian instruction.64

Dykes also continued to publish articles in a variety of magazines and
journals. She published essays in W and began to publish
articles in W first

published in 1916 and In; Wfimt published in 1937 were
published by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History launched by

Carte G. Woodson in the fall of 1915 whose purpose was described by Woodson
to be "the ‘scientific' study of the ‘neglected aspects of Negro life and history.“
65. Most of Dykes articles published in this period of her life were published in
Seventh Day Adventists magazines such as W and In;
W. The articles in these journals dealt primarily with religious

subjects, especially the correct social behavior for young Christian women and

 

62 Eva Dykes, "I am for the Christian school," in W (October 1951)
p. 10-11, 14.

63 Williams, p. 87.

54 Eva Dykes and Florence Winslow, Wk. 1958) Personal
Parers of Eva B. Dykes, Eva B. Dykes Library.

65 Darlene Clark Hine, "Carter G. Woodson, White Philanthropy and Negro
Historiography" in Weber (Volume 19. Number 3) pp. 406-407.

24

men. After spending a summer studying under Owen Thomas at Indiana

 

University, Dykes helped prepare : U- . o. _
MW

Eva B. Dykes made a contribution to African American intellectual history
which was unique and necessary. Her no-nonsense approach to education
improved the ability of hundreds of students to communicate effectively, via the
written or the spoken word. She blasted the notion that peoples of African
descent were nonexistent in classical letters and she helped to introduce African
American prose and poetry into the academy. By placing African American
writing next to critically appreciated works, she demonstrated that the literature
of the African American could be used in academic discourse in a manner which
demonstrated how these works could be best used. Her published essays and
articles focused on a variety of topics, from Civil War poetry to scholarly book
reviews of popular African American literature, to social history, and critical
reevaluations and revisions of the role of lesser known historic figures in
American History. The following analyses reviews a selection of the published
articles, essays and books.

As was noted earlier, Dr. Dykes specialized in the literature of the Romantic
period. Her 1942 study, WWW demonstrates
her knowledge of this period literature. Within this limited realm, Dr. Dykes
successfully uncovers works pertaining to the African American experience. In
the introduction to W Dr. Dykes announces
her intention to prove that the experience of peoples of African descent has not
been left out of English Romantic literature.

One of the most salient features of the “Romantic Movement of the
latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was the love of
freedom. Whether this love was colored by an increasing
conservatism and limited more or less by an adherence to

25

traditional forms and conventions, as was the case with
Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge, or whether it was heightened
by an intense hostility toward existing conventions of church,
society, and state, as was the case with Byron and Shelley, it is not
surprising to find among these men and their forerunners a deep
sympathy for the oppressed of any race and especially for the
Negro.66

The assertion that the experience of oppressed people is typical of
literature of the Romantic period, African Americans included, is a common
theme expressed by Dr. Dykes in many of her writings. In a 1942 review of III:

WW Gertrude Rivers notes the importance of Dr.
Dykes study. "The story of the Negro in English romantic thought had never been

told until the publication of the present volume. As unfolded by Dr. Dykes it
becomes not only a significant contribution to the history of the Negro's struggle
for freedom, but a storehouse of information of individuals seeking a solution to
the problem of human equality."67

In W Dr. Eva B. Dykes, a scholar of
philology and English literature, used her extensive knowledge of English letters to
authentiCate the existence of the record of the enslaved African's experience in
English literature. The range of scholarship in the study is broad and diverse. It
covers the writings of famous poets, statesmen, religious figures, and
philosophers such as Cowper, Wesley, and Defoe. It also includes an examination
of works by lesser known artists, for example women "abolitionists" such as
Aphra Behn whose 1688 W a "narrative of a noble
Chieftain subjected to cruel treatment by the white race. . . made a great appeal to
eighteenth century abolitionists."68 As Gertrude Rivers pointed out, there had

not been up to this point a serious scholarly attempt to explore the attitude of

 

66Dykes, Eva B. ' '
W (Washington, D. C.: Associated Publishers, Inc, 1942) p. 1.

67Gertrude B. Rivers. "Review of The Negro in English Romantic Thought by Dr.

Eva B Dykes" JenmaLnLNmHim (Vol. 27. No. 2) July 1942 p355
68Dykes. W. p 127

26

English writers toward the slave trade in English Romantic letters. Dr. Dykes
became aware of the need for such a study while at Radcliffe College, when a
fellow student remarked that Africans and African Americans were non-existent
in English Romantic letters.

The history of the slave trade, and the role of the literary world in
eradicating it, is a popular theme in Dr. Dykes work. In her 1944 essay "The
Poetry of the Civil War" Dr. Dykes, proposing that "literature is life itself"
contends that as war plays an important role in human life, it plays an important
role in literature as well. In this essay she analyzes the role of poetry written
during the Civil War. The essay begins with an inquiry into the historic role war
plays in literature. She discusses the particular virtues common to literature and
war. These virtues: loyalty, patriotism, unselfishness, and self sacrifice are usually
attributed to heroic characters in literature and war.

During the civil war, the most popular poems were those which were set
to music. These poems dealt with land and sea battles, flag poems, and songs
about individuals such as John Brown. The most popular song/poem of this era,
she tells us was Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic". As was the case
in W Dykes makes reference to poems
written by whites which focused on heroes, both black and white who were
especially revered by the African American community. The three poems which
focused on the life and death of John Brown are examples of this.

As in most of her essays, Dr. Dykes discusses the contribution of blacks
and women to patriotic literature. In the following excerpt Dr, Dykes reminds her
reader of the historic role African American writers have played in the creation of
patriotic poetry. "Colored poets were not negligent in writing of the war, being
animated by the same patriotic spirit which inspired Phillis Wheatley to write her

27

tributes to Washington and Lee at the close of the revolutionary war."69 She then
notes various poems by black women and men like Francis Ellen Watkins
Harper's "President Lincoln's Proclamation" and Thomas W. Talley's "Negro Folk
Rhymes," a poem written in "Negro" dialect. What is most interesting about
this essay however, is Dr. Dykes acknowledgement of Black America's most
popular and expressive art form, the spiritual. Dr. Dykes notes that spirituals such
as "Year of Jubilee", "Slavery Chain", "Who'll Jine' de Union", and "The Negro
Battle Hymn", inspired the troops going into battle and celebrated the Northern
victory and their emancipation. She also wrote about individuals who helped the
enslaved African Americans gain freedom. One historic individual, William C.
Bryant a white abolitionist and journalist, figures in two of Dykes' essays dealing
with this subject

In her November 1942 essay, "William Cullen Bryant" Dykes explored the
contributions of an important historic figure. The essay on William Cullen Bryant
is interesting primarily because of its emphasis on Bryant as a journalist and an
abolitionist, not as a poet. It is also interesting because it reveals a great deal about
Dykes' racial attitude.

Eva B. Dykes was a firm believer in the possibilities of inter-racial co-
operation. In the interview with Merze Tate, Eva recalled that her uncle, Dr. James
Howard, taught her that "the people who were prejudiced were victims, not
oppressors."7° In this essay she stresses the crucial role played by whites like
Bryant who helped establish black schools for freedmen before the war, and who
agitated for the abolition of slavery. After the civil war these same white citizens

agitated for citizens rights for free blacks.

 

69F.va B. Dykes, "The Poetry of the Civil War," in W Vol
7, Feb. 1944zp. 115. -

70Merze Tate, p.10.

28

Bryant, Dykes tells us, was the editor of the New Xerk Evening Beet from
1829 until 1878. Dr. Dykes considers this period to have been the most critical

period of our history. This same historical period is explored in two other essays

by Dykes .
published in W, "Three Negro Publishers" (Ianuary, 1943)
and "Walt Whitman and Democracy"(May, 1943).

In the January 1943 essay, "Three Negro Publishers" Dr. Dykes studies the
history of the black press by examining the lives of three black publishers:
Stephen Meyers, Charles B. Ray, and Thomas Hamilton. She contends that the
"essential qualities" needed by an editor: "moral conviction and intellectual
integrity, animated only by a desire to aid their people and make democracy, a
living principle for all mankind,”1 characterizes the work of these individuals.

At the beginning of this essay, Dykes quotes Carlyle who said, in effect, that
publishing is an extension of printing which is an extension of writing, which is
"the true reign of miracles for mankind commenced,"72 In spite of financial and
educational handicaps, black publishers "did a splendid job in calling the attention
of the public to the injustices endured by the Negro..."73

Dr. Dykes explores the "Pan Africanist" perspective of Charles B. Ray, who
in 1839 became the editor of We. In advancing the aims of The
W , Dykes notes that Ray stated:

"It's objects are more directly the moral, social, political elevation,
and improvement of the free colored people; and the peaceful
emancipation of the enslaved...The paper therefore will not be
regardless of the welfare of colored people of other countries."74

 

71Eva B. Dykes, "Three Negro Publishers," in W vol. 6,
January 1943, p. 82.

72 Dykes, "Three Negro Publishers" p. 82.

7-”Ibid., p.82-83.

74 Ibid., p.83.

29

This position, Dr. Dykes recognizes, anticipates the call of leaders during the early
20th century for blacks in the US. to take interest in the condition of other
people of color throughout the world.

The early black press was not completely controlled by the black
intelligentsia. Stephen Meyers, the founder and editor of W152; was poorly
educated but possessed a natural gift for writing. A former slave who was
emancipated at the age of 18, Meyers "thereafter by pen and mouth devoted
himself to securing the democratic way of life for his own people.”5 That Meyers
was still alive at the time of the Emancipation proclamation and lived to see his
dream of abolition of slavery realized is noted by Dykes as significant

The third publisher considered in "Three Negro Publishers", Thomas

Hamilton, was the founder and editor of the WW. Dykes
contends that Hamilton's aim was to make the W210: one of the

"institutions of the country.”6 The W (1859) contained
articles pertaining to slavery, the slave trade, black education, and other subjects
important to the African American Community. Hamilton, Meyers, and Ray
"maintain their rank as men among men, and "speak for themselves."77

In "Democracy and Walt Whitman", Eva Dykes combines two of her
favorite themes, poets of the romantic movement and democracy. In this essay,
Dr. Dykes concentrates on the poems included in Whitman's collection, Leaxeuzf
mags (1856). Dr. Dykes attributes Whitman's heritage (a Quaker grandmother
and parents of "good, solid stock interested in the principles of freedom and

democracy") for the objectivity and vision which made him "the great poet of the

 

75 Ibid., p.83.
75Dykes, "Three Negro Publishers," p.83.
77 Ibid., p.83.

30

American democracy.”8 Because Whitman was a romanticist and espoused the
romantic traits of individualism and transcendentalism, he embodied the
experience of every individual, the slave as well as the slave master , in his rhetoric.

Whitman, Dykes notes, said of himself "I am the poet of equality".79 It is
not surprising therefore she states, that he would spend much of his time
identifying himself with all of humanity and asserting the rights of free speech and
freedom in all of its forms. Whitman's attitude toward slavery, Dykes tells us, is .
inconsistent and difficult to discern. "One attitude toward the Negro is apathy and
indifference."3° At another point Whitman refers to Negroes as "cruel, bestial and
lacking in education"81 By 1846, Whitman's attitude toward slavery appears to
have changed. Dr. Dykes points out that Whitman was fired from the W
W for speaking out boldly against the expansion of slavery into the new
territory. The following March, in an article in the W
Whitman referred to slavery as a "disgrace and a blot on America and
humanity."82 In spite of his ambiguity concerning racial issues, which Dykes
contends widened through the years, Walt Whitman, stood, in Dykes opinion at
least as a "real bard of Democracy"83

One of the most consistent techniques used by Dr. Dykes in her writing is
the comparison of the individual or object she is studying with established classics
or works by some established eminence. In the essay on Whitman, she
compares Whitman's romanticism with English romanticists. This type of

analysis is carried over into the work which most blatantly proposes to introduce

 

73Eva Dykes, "Democracy and Walt Whitman", W Vol.6,
May, 1943: p. 175.

79Dykes, "Democracy and Walt Whitman," p. 176.

80Ibid., p. 176.

31lbid., p. 176.

32 Ibid., p.177.

33 Ibid., p.177.

31

the African American experience into the academy, WW
MW-

In W. Dr- Dykes along
with Otellia Cromwell and Lorenzo Dow Turner undertake to introduce African
American literature into the academy. The purpose of this collection as expressed
in the introduction is "to offer for classroom study or supplementary reading a
selection of types of writings by Negro authors." 34 This textbook could be
considered significant even if it was not the first textbook which featured the
literature of African Americans. The stated purpose of the project is also
significant The editors of the book believed that an intelligent appreciation of
these writings would be stimulated by this collection. In a review of the book
published in the We: in July of 1932, Mary Louise Strong notes
the importance of this text.

"Few textbooks have been so greatly needed as this pioneer which
is praiseworthy on many grounds...’lhese editors bring penetrating
viewpoints, scholarly minds, and keen perspicacity. Their initial
combined effort is at once a challenge and a reply...Here is an
uncommonly opportune guide that shows how the task should be

undertaken."35

If we accept the idea that this volume is indeed important to African
American scholarship we must ask particular questions of the work and judge its'
relative success or failure at achieving the goals its editors desire for it.36 The most

important question or concern for this collection is whether or not it is truly

 

8"Eva B. Dykes, ed. with Otelia Cromwell and Lorenzo D. Turner.

Readlnizflmm
W New York: Harcourt and Brace Co 1942.
pm.
85Mary Louise Strong, Readings from Negro Authors, A Review Of:" mm
mm Vol 17, no. 3. July 1932: pp. 383-384.
36 See also: John Lovell Jr. "What Price Negro Literature?" W
W Vol 1, Fall 1932, pp. 427-430

32

representative of the types of writings blacks have done up to this period. The
first section of the book is dedicated to an exploration of poets and poetry.

Dr Dykes, Otellia Cromwell and Lorenzo Dow Turner have included a
broad range of poetry in this section. There is however a tendency to focus on
poems referring to nature and love. If our objective is to find examples of poems
that seem to be more openly Afro-centric we are sorely limited by this collection.
The only poems in this collection that blatantly address this issue are "0 Black
and Unknown Bards", by James Weldon Johnson and "From the Dark Tower," by
Countee Cullen.

There are many examples in this collection of poems which fulfill the
requirements of the New Negro. For example, Waring Cuney's "No Images," Otto
Leland Bohanan's "The Negro Washer Woman" and Langston Hughes, "Mother to
Son" which celebrate the beauty, strength and tenacity of the black woman are
included in this collection. Conspicuously absent from this section however is
"Karintha" or any of the poems from Jean Toomer's Cane.

In this essay we have looked at a select few of the published works written
by Dr. Eva Dykes in an attempt to establish her as an important foremother in the
quest to bring African American literature to the academy. As a result of the
volume of materials discussed, there has been little time for much more that a
brief analysis of the most appropriate points of each. There remains as a result a
considerable amount of room for further study. Even a study as brief as this
however suggests that there is most definitely a case to be made for the theory
that Eva B. Dykes played a crucial role, in what we can only assumed to be one of
her objectives. There is also a great body of work by Dr. Dykes focusing on her
religion and instructing young people.

Too often we tend to record only the histories of the radial, the violent, and

the outspoken. As a result most African American "heroes" have been men. It is

33

easy to ignore the contributions of those who quietly and slowly, but nonetheless
effectively changed our society. This is not to say that Dykes was passive or non-
revolutionary, she was, as Dr. Lela Gooding effectively phrased it "(a) professed
non-violence adherent. . . She was nevertheless an intellectual militant in the
tradition of her literary ancestors,. . . perceiving and calling attention to
problems."37 When she died at 93 in 1986, Dykes left behind a glowing example
of the potential for excellence for African American women in academia. In an
unpublished article for Spectrum Magazine, Dykes told Irene Wakeham what she
believed, to be her role in the struggle for black civil rights, it read:

My contribution toward achieving in the area of civil rights may be
stated in this way. I have tried to do my best in whatever field I
found myself, to make the wonderful mind God has given man a
kingdom in itself. As Milton says, "The Mind can of its own self
make a heaven or a hell." If the mind can be filled with the best
droughts and with the desire to do one's best in whatever direction
it may move, the Black experience can be one of love to all
mankind, and the living exemplification of the love of Christ, who
said we must let our lives be governed by two principles - a deep
love for God and a deep love for our neighbor, which must be equal
in scope and intensity to our love for ourselves.33

 

87Lela M. Gooding. WW unpublished paper
(Huntsville Alabama: Oakwood College) 1980. p.26.

38 Irene Wakeham, "Dr. Eva Beatrice Dykes," for W (unpublished - May
12, 1975)p. 10.

34

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MANU SCRIPT COLLECTIONS

Eva Beatrice Dykes Library, Oakwood University, Huntsville Tennessee. Eva
Beatrice Dykes Papers.

Moorland-Springarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington DC. Eva
Beatrice Dykes Papers.

Schelleshenger Library, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass. Alumni Records, Eva
B. Dykes.

BOOKS

Brewer, Dana Bathurst. Eva Dykes: A Star to Show the Way. InfleeQUeefienLQf
filer: Alabama, Vol. 7. Huntsville Alabama: Writers Consortium Press,

1989.

Dabney, Lillian G. ' ' ' '
W Washington DC: The Catholic University of America Press,

1949.

Davis, Marianna W. (ed) WW Vol 2.
:Education Columbia, South Carolina: Kenday Press, 1982, p. 302.

Dykes, EvaB. I!‘ -- ' ,
W. WashingtOn D. C.: Associated Publishers, 1942.

.(ed.) WWW (ed.
with Otellia Cromwell and Lorenzo Dow Turner) New York: Harcourt
Brace, and Company, 1931.

 

Giddings, Paula. .' - ' ,, . ’,
WNew York: Bantam Books, 1985.

Gordon Lynn G W New
Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1990.

 

Montgomery, Winfield S.

W
W Washington D G: Smith Brother's
Printer, 1907.

 

Solomon, Barbara.

.New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press,

Willie, Charles V. Em e Blaek Sehelars; An Analyse“ 9f Earmly’ Life“ , Eduearien and
Career. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1986.

35

36

Williams, DeWitt 8- NW Washington. DC:
Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1985.

Wolters, Raymond. '
1920's. Princeton, New Jersy: Princeton University Press, 1975, p. 83.

Yenser, Thomas (ed.). "Dykes, Eva Beatrice“ W
W. Third Edition, Brooklyn, New York: Thomas Yenser -

publisher, 1933zp. 139-140.

ARTICLES

Christianson, Virgil. "‘Much Yet to Learn," pioneering teacher says 45 years on
the job not enough.” We, August 1968:?(page # unknown).

Dykes, Eva B. "Black Gods of the Metropolis, Review of:" 193W
Him Vol 29;no.3, July 1944:381-383.

. "Democracy and Walt Whitman" Wm Vbl 6,
May 1943:175-177.

. "Higher Education of Negroes." Crisis, Vol.22, July 1921:105-112.

. "I am For the Christian School." W October 1951:10-
11, 14.

. "My Lord What A Morning, Review of:" mm Vol
42;No. 1, January 1957:61-63.

____. "The Poetry of the Civil War" WW Vol. 7, Feb.
1944:105-106;114-115.

. "Rising Above Color, Review of:" WW Vol
29;no.2 April 1944;222-224.

___. "Three Negro Publishers" W Vol. 6, January
1943:82—83.

. "William Cullen Bryant: Apostle of Freedom" Wiener};
M21111. Vol. 6, November 1942:29-31.

. "Whither Modern Education." W 13. February
1947:p. 6.

Ford, HE. "A Modern Educator." IheMeesageMagazine, July 1935?: p.(unknown)

 

37

Lovell, John Jr. "What Price Negro Literature?" f N B
Vol 1, Fall 1932:427—430.

Reynolds, Louis B. "She Fulfilled The Impossible Dream" WM.
January 4, 1973: 15-17.

Rivers, Gertrude B. "The Negro in English Romantic Thought... Review of:" jenrnal
W Vol 27;no.2, July 1942:352—355.

Strong, Mary Louise. "Readings from Negro Authors, Review of:" mm
11151911, Vol 17;no.3. July 1932:383-387.

Warren, Meryn A. "I Am 80 Ordinary," W 1986, pp. 13-14.
THESIS, DISSERTATIONS AND UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS
Dykes, Eva B. with Florence Winslow. WM- Unpublished

document ca. 1958. Personal Papers of Eva B. Dykes, Eva B. Dykes library
archives.

Gooding. Lela M. Wes Unpublished paper. ca.
1980. Huntsville Alabama: Oakwood College.

Knowles, Jane. "Dykes, Eva Beatrice AB. ‘17 AM. ‘18 PhD. ‘21, 1893- " Radcliffe
College Archives, Schellessinger Library.

Wakeham, Irene. "Dr. Eva Beatrice Dykes." For W (unpublished
- May 12, 1975).

REPORTS AND PAMPHLETS

Dykes, Eva B., with the Committee on the Program in English Cooperation.
W September 1958.

. "Plans for the First Semester of 1955-1956 for the Division of
Humanities," (c. 1955.) Eva B. Dykes personal papers, Eva B. Dykes Library
archives.

SPEECHES

Dykes, Eva B. The Paradox of the Impossible. Chapel Talk. Eva B. Dykes personal
papers, Eva B. Dykes Library archives.

INTERVIEWS AND ORAL HISTORIES
ACHE Television Interview Program with Eva B. Dykes, 1986.

Lewis, Jannith. Statewide Oral History Project; Interviewee Dr. Dykes.

38

Rock, Clara P. Oral Interview with Dr. Dykes, March 17, 1975.

Tate, Merze "Interview with Eva B. Dykes. November 30 - December 1, 1977"
Black Women Oral History Project: Vol. 23 Cambridge, MA : Scheshlenger
Library, Radcliffe College 1980.

 

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