| Effa Manley |
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Information AboutEffa Manley |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT EFFA MANLEY | |
| 1897 births | |
| manley, effa | |
| 1981 deaths | |
| baseball hall of fame | |
| baseball executives | |
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Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the child of an illegitimate relationship, she was often mistaken for being a light-skinned black woman due to being raised in a home with a black father. She 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. She displayed particular skill in the area of marketing, and often scheduled promotions which advanced the civil rights movement. Her most noteworthy success was the Eagles' victory in the Negro League World Series in 1946 . Manley was known as a players' advocate. She fought for better schedules, better travel and better salaries. Manley recognized that her team was a community resource. Said former Eagles star what the Dodgers were to Brooklyn." Manley provided the Eagles with an air-conditioned, $15,000 Flexible Clipper bus, a first for the Negro Leagues. Worried about what her players would do for employment during the offseason, she and Abe Manley sponsored a team in the Puerto Rican winter leagues. Her influence extended beyond baseball; she was also active in the Black civil rights movement. She 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. Thanks to her rallying efforts, more than 185 VIPs -- including New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia , who threw out the first pitch, and Charles C. Lockwood, justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York -- were on hand to watch the Eagles' inaugural game in 1935. Manley was also a social activist. As part of her work for the Citizen’s League for Fair Play, Manley organized a 1934 boycott of a Harlem stores that refused to hire black salesclerks. After six weeks, the owners of the stores give in, and a year later 300 stores on 125th Street employed blacks. Manley was the treasurer of the Newark chapter of the National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People (NAACP) and often used Eagles games to promote civic causes. In 1939, Manley held an "Anti-Lynching Day" at Ruppert Stadium. Among the Eagles players during her ownership were future major league stars such as Larry Doby , Monte Irvin and Don Newcombe . Controversially, she engaged in many romantic involvements with players on the team; her husband sometimes traded players upon learning of her liaisons with them. Effa Manley died at age 84 in Los Angeles, California . She was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in February 2006 , the first woman to be so honored. EXTERNAL LINK |
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