Collection Title: Lacy Downey Scrapbook
Series Number: RG021-11-24
Department: Student Scrapbooks
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Dieter C. Ullrich on April 21, 2011
Date Listed: April 21, 2011
Date Span: 1931-1942
Size of Collection: 2.0 linear feet
Number of Boxes: 1 oversize box
Type of Material: Scrapbook
Condition of Material: Fair with stains, tears, fading and damage caused by acids released by adhesives and wood pulp paper
Arrangement: Arrangement by author
Historical Information: Lacy Edward Downey was the captain of the 1939 Murray State College varsity football team. He was a resident of Paducah, Kentucky prior to being admitted to Murray State in 1936. He attended Washington Junior High School and graduated from Tilghman High School at Paducah in the spring of 1936. He received an athletic scholarship at Murray State in the fall of the same year to play football. He played guard for the varsity football team for three years and was on the varsity track team for two years. In 1939, he was the sports editor for the yearbook and was listed in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Downey graduated from Murray State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education in May of 1940. In August of 1940, he signed a contract with the Long Island Indians of the American Professional Football Association. He later coached high school football teams in Cleveland and Paris, Tennessee. He died in 2006.
Scope and Content: The collection consists of a scrapbook kept by Lacy Downey from 1931 to 1942 documenting his years playing football at Washington Junior High School, Tilghman High School and Murray State College, and coaching at Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee. The scrapbook contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, game programs and ephemera related to athletic events in which Murray State was a participant. Included with the scrapbook is a “Prospectus of the 1938 Murray State College Thoroughbreds” and Downey’s 1940 contract with the Long Island Indians.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Downey, Lacy Edward
Murray State College – History.
Murray State University – Football – History.
Scrapbooks – Kentucky – Murray.
Scrapbooks – Kentucky – Paducah.
Long Island Indians
Tilghman High School (Paducah, Ky.)
Bradley Central High School (Cleveland, Tenn.)
