Garth Reeves

Garth C. Reeves

BTW Class of 1936

Garth C. Reeves, publisher emeritus of The Miami Times, moved to Miami, Florida with his family four months after his birth in Nassau, Bahamas on February 12, 1919.

Mr. Reeves graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1936 and earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical arts from Florida A & M University in 1940. Reeves spent 46 months as a technical sergeant in the U.S. Army in World War II serving in the European and Pacific Theatres of Operations.

After the war, Mr. Reeves returned to Miami to work with his father at The Miami Times. He has served as reporter, columnist, managing editor, and publisher. He also managed the commercial printing department of The Times.

Mr. Reeves used his newspaper as the Black community’s voice in the Civil Rights struggle. The Times editorials have questioned the handling of police brutality cases, inequities in municipal services, funding desegregation of public schools and the segregation policies of public facilities.

His community involvement has not been limited to publishing the Miami Times. In 1959, Rev. Theodore Gibson, Dr. John O. Alphonso Brown and Mr. Reeves led a group of Blacks armed with their tax bills to a confrontation with Dade County commissioners to protest the county’s segregationist policies on public beaches. Ignoring a line of police officers, Mr. Reeves and Oscar Range went swimming at the “ white only” Crandon Park beach. Blacks have been swimming at all Dade County beaches ever since.

Mr. Reeves broke the color barrier in many of Miami’s white establishments, becoming the first black to serve on the governing boards of Miami-Dade Community College, Barry University, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Dade County, Dade Community Foundation, and other prominent community organizations.

Mr. Reeves has a variety of professional experiences. He served as organizing chairman of the board for National Industrial Bank, the first integrated bank in the state. He was president of the bank in 1971 and became

vice chairman in 1976 when it was merged into Capital Bank of Miami. In 1977 and 1978, Mr. Reeves served as a Pulitzer Journalist Juror.

Mr. Reeves served ten years as president of Amalgamated Publishers of New York City representing 110 Black newspapers throughout the country. He served two terms as president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He is a life member of the NAACP, Sigma Pi Phi Boule and Omega Psi Phi fraternities and a founding member of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation. He was chairman of the board of the People National Bank for eight years.

Mr. Reeves was married to the late Beatrice Burrows. He is the father of Rachel J. Reeves, publisher of The Miami Times. He is the grandfather of Garth Basil Reeves and brother of Frances Jollivette Chambers.

Among his honors and awards are the following: Garth C. Reeves Eminent Scholars Chair in Journalism and Graphic Arts at

Florida A&M University, Urban League of Miami Distinguished Service Award, Greater Miami Chapter American Jewish Committee Human Relations Award, Nova Southeastern University Hall of Fame, National Kool Achiever Award in Communications, South Florida Business Hall of Fame, Miami Herald Spirit of Excellence Award, Boy Scouts of America Whitney Young Jr. Service Award and NNPA Publisher of the year three times.