va Beatrice Dykes holds the distinction of being the first Black woman in America to have completed the requirements for a Ph.D. It was conferred on her in 1921 by Radcliffe College, a female school associated with Harvard University. Dykes joined Oakwood College as chair of the English Department in 1944. Prior to joining the faculty at Oakwood College, Dykes taught at Dunbar High School, a Black high school in the District of Columbia. For 13 years she taught English at Howard University, receiving many awards and writing extensively for several journals.

In 1944 Oakwood was a two-year college. Dykes's decision to leave Howard, one of the United States' most famous institutions of higher learning for African-Americans, was a difficult one. But she perceived that Howard University was becoming an elitist institution for children of the well-to-do. The idea of going to a small school with no accreditation that accepted the underprivileged motivated her to help Oakwood obtain the academic standing it desired.

Dykes not only gave to the college the full range of her academic and professional talents but also poured her energies into the institution in many other ways. Considered a musical prodigy as a child, and amazingly proficient at the piano, she established a tradition of musical performances, initiating the presentation of Handel's Messiah at Oakwood. In 1946 she organized the Aeolian Choral Group, which has now earned worldwide acclaim.

At the College church Dykes directed the Personal Ministries Department, served as deaconess, and participated in community outreach programs. She authored several scholarly books and many articles for various educational journals and church publications. Her column for Message magazine ran for more than 50 years.

In 1973 Dykes was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the General Conference Education Department at the dedication of the Eva B. Dykes Library at Oakwood College. At the 1975 General Conference session, Dykes received the Citation of Excellence in recognition of her contribution to Seventh-day Adventist education around the world. She died in 1986, at the age of 93.