Effa Manley was born in Philadelphia and , after graduating from vocational school, took a job as a hatmaker. A baseball fan from an early age, she met Abe Manley at a New York Yankees game. Abe owned the Newark Eagles, a popular baseball club in the Negro Leagues. Effa married Abe in 1935 and became the team’s full-time marketing and promotional agent. She worked hard to improved conditions for her players. She arranged for an air-conditioned bus for travel, a luxury among the Negro Leagues.
Effa was critical of Brooklyn Dodgers’ executive Branch Rickey, citing his signing of Jackie Robinson as a “good-for-business” decision, rather than a civil rights issue. She also butt heads with Robinson himself when he said the Negro Leagues should dissolve. Effa was quick to remind Robinson of his humble beginnings.
Effa expanded her civil rights efforts beyond the baseball field. She organized boycotts of department stores that refused to hire black employees. She held an “Anti-Lynching Day” at the Newark Eagles home field, where she handed out “Stop Lynching” buttons to support efforts to pass federal anti-lynching legislation. During World War II, she arranged for USO performances for segregated black troops.
Effa died in 1981 of a heart attack. She was 84. In 2006, Effa was the first (and so far only) woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.