A. Reginald Eaves, born in 1934, dedicated his career to public service and community development in Fulton County. He was among the first generation of black politicians to break color barriers in cities across the nation in the wake of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Eaves was the first black administrator to the president of the Massachusetts Senate, and later became Atlanta's first public safety commissioner. Eaves also played a major part in Atlanta's shift to black political power in the 1970s and 1980s, serving as a key adviser to college classmate Maynard Jackson during Jackson's first mayoral campaign and administration.

While in Boston, he received a law degree from the New England School of Law in 1966; served as a Massachusetts Senate administrator; taught in the Boston Public Schools; and was the executive director of South-end Neighborhood Action Program. He campaigned for Maynard Jackson's first mayoral campaign. In 1973, Jackson hired Eaves as a political advisor. Jackson appointed Eaves as the city's first public safety administrator in 1974. From 1979 to 1988, he was a member of the Fulton County Commission.

In 1981, he ran for mayor of Atlanta. In 2009, he ran for the Atlanta City Council District 11 seat in a crowded race. He also served as Board Chairman for Economic Opportunity Atlanta (EOA), the community action authority for Atlanta. Eaves was a member of the Morehouse College Alumni Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and many civic organizations.

He died June 9, 2015, of a stroke at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 81.