The Most Famous Woman in Baseball
Effa Manley was not only a baseball executive, but also a socialite, a civil rights leader, and a business leader. She was the first female to make it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Throughout her life, baseball was her life. Effa grew up loving baseball, and so did her husband, Abe Manley. Together, they owned and managed the Newark Eagles, a Negro National League franchise from 1934 to 1948. This movie will follow who Effa Manley was and how she became the most famous woman in baseball.
Effa Manley was born March 27, 1897 to an African American seamstress mother, Bertha Ford Brooks and John Marcus Bishop who was her white employer and a Philadelphia stockbroker. Manley has a very light-skinned complexion because of the extramarital union. Light enough that she could pass as white, she actually identified herself as white. Manley was raised in an African-American family with five black step-siblings. Manley was a fully active member of the black community in her social and family …show more content…
It all happened moderately quickly. Following the 1948 season, Effa and Abe’s Eagles, along with the Grays and the New York Black Yankees, opted to disband. They sold the team for $15,000 and the new owner relocated the club to Houston. Without the Eagles in her life, Effa stepped up her involvement in the local Newark NAACP chapter, becoming its treasurer. Baseball was still at her core though, and she remained as outspoken as ever. Effa condemned the way major league teams had raided the Negro Leagues of their top talent and did what she could to keep the collective memory of Negro baseball alive. Unfortunately for Effa, while integration came to MLB’s clubhouses in 1947, it would be decades before African Americans had any real positions of influence within its executive
Effa Manley was not only a baseball executive, but also a socialite, a civil rights leader, and a business leader. She was the first female to make it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Throughout her life, baseball was her life. Effa grew up loving baseball, and so did her husband, Abe Manley. Together, they owned and managed the Newark Eagles, a Negro National League franchise from 1934 to 1948. This movie will follow who Effa Manley was and how she became the most famous woman in baseball.
Effa Manley was born March 27, 1897 to an African American seamstress mother, Bertha Ford Brooks and John Marcus Bishop who was her white employer and a Philadelphia stockbroker. Manley has a very light-skinned complexion because of the extramarital union. Light enough that she could pass as white, she actually identified herself as white. Manley was raised in an African-American family with five black step-siblings. Manley was a fully active member of the black community in her social and family …show more content…
It all happened moderately quickly. Following the 1948 season, Effa and Abe’s Eagles, along with the Grays and the New York Black Yankees, opted to disband. They sold the team for $15,000 and the new owner relocated the club to Houston. Without the Eagles in her life, Effa stepped up her involvement in the local Newark NAACP chapter, becoming its treasurer. Baseball was still at her core though, and she remained as outspoken as ever. Effa condemned the way major league teams had raided the Negro Leagues of their top talent and did what she could to keep the collective memory of Negro baseball alive. Unfortunately for Effa, while integration came to MLB’s clubhouses in 1947, it would be decades before African Americans had any real positions of influence within its executive