29 Facts About Effa Manley

Effa Louise Manley was an American sports executive.

Effa Manley co-owned the Newark Eagles baseball franchise in the Negro leagues with her husband Abe Manley from 1935 to 1948.

However, according to the book The Most Famous Woman in Baseball by Bob Luke, Effa Manley was born through an extramarital union between her seamstress mother, Bertha Ford Brooks, and Bertha's white employer, Philadelphia stockbroker John Marcus Bishop.

Regardless of her ethnic origins, Effa Manley thought of herself as a black woman and was perceived by all who knew her as just that.

Effa Manley related a story of when her husband, Abe Manley took her to Tiffany's in New York for an engagement ring.

Effa Manley remarked at how every salesgirl in the store was on hand to get a glimpse of this "old Negro man buying this young white girl a five-carat ring" and how she got a kick out of it.

In 1977, Manley was interviewed for an oral history project which is archived at the Louie B Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Effa Manley married Abe Manley in 1935 after meeting him at a New York Yankees game, and he involved her extensively in the operation of his own club, the Newark Eagles in Newark, New Jersey.

Effa Manley displayed particular skill in the area of marketing and often scheduled promotions that advanced the Civil Rights Movement.

Effa Manley worked to improve the condition of the players in the entire league.

Effa Manley's players traveled in an air-conditioned Flxible Clipper bus, considered extravagant for the Negro leagues.

Effa Manley took over day-to-day business operations of the team, arranged playing schedules, planned the team's travel, managed and met the payroll, bought the equipment, negotiated contracts, and handled publicity and promotions.

Effa Manley was critical of Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, who signed Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract in 1945.

Effa Manley felt Negro league teams were justified in requesting compensation for players who were signed to major league contracts.

Effa Manley was critical of Negro league fans who supported Rickey because they felt he was integrating the major leagues due to civil rights causes rather than her summation of Rickey seeking business opportunity for his motivation.

Effa Manley was critical of Robinson when he talked of the disorganization of the Negro leagues, asking him to not forget his beginnings and the contributions the Negro leagues had made to the game.

Effa Manley's influence extended beyond baseball; she was active in the Civil Rights Movement and a social activist.

Effa Manley was the treasurer of the Newark chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and often used Eagles games to promote civic causes.

Effa Manley was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in February 2006.

Effa Manley was the first woman named to the Hall of Fame.

In 2010, her life was the subject of a children's book, She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story, written by Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Don Tate.

Effa Manley was married to Henry Moton Clinton from December 1953 to August 1954, and to Charles Wesley Alexander from 1956 to 1957.

Effa Manley stated that she regretted both her marriages after her second one.

Effa Manley moved into a rest home run by former Negro league player Quincy Trouppe.

Effa Manley told Trouppe that she would go to the hospital to get checked out.

Effa Manley had cancer of the colon, which progressed into peritonitis after surgery.

Effa Manley had a heart attack and died on April 16,1981, having never returned to the rest home.

Effa Manley died just four days after boxer Joe Louis, her sports idol, who had been one of the most influential black athletes of that time.

Effa Manley was buried in Culver City at the Holy Cross Cemetery.