Amanda Clement

Amanda E. Clement was the first woman paid to umpire a baseball game, and may have also been the first woman to referee a high school basketball game. Clement served as an umpire on a regular basis for six years, and served occasionally for several decades afterwards. An accomplished athlete in multiple disciplines, Clement competed in baseball, basketball, track, gymnastics, and tennis, and has been attributed world records in shot put, sprinting, hurdling, and baseball.

Amanda Clement was born in Hudson, South Dakota, then part of the Dakota Territory, on March 20, 1888 to Harriet Clement, one of the original settlers of Eden, South Dakota, and her husband, who died when Amanda was very young. In 1904 Clement traveled to Hawarden, Iowa to watch her brother Hank pitch in a semiprofessional game. The umpire for the amateur game taking place before Hanks did not show, and Hank suggested that Amanda, who had played baseball with her brothers and was knowledgeable about the game, serve as the umpire. In so doing, Clement became the first woman paid to umpire a baseball game. Her performance was so well received that she was hired to umpire further semiprofessional games.

Source: Wikipedia