Chapman spent some time reviewing movies in Hollywood, but his base was always in Manhattan. He and his wife Georgia also maintained a home in Westport, Connecticut. He was the son of Arthur Chapman, a Denver, Colorado newspaperman best known for his poem ''Out Where the West Begins.'' The bulk of the collection dates from Chapman's rise in popularity in the late twenties, and includes photographs of Chapman with various movie stars, articles, speeches, typescripts and newspaper clippings of Chapman's reviews, reviews of plays, awards, inviations, cartoons, scrapbooks and other writings, biographical material, publicity material he received from movie production companies, and correspondence with publishers. Though most of the collection pertains to his professional life, some personal photographs and correspondence are also included. The collections also includes grade school and high school papers, poems, an interview, correspondence, obituaries, posters, and audio cassette tapes.

In addition to his teaching and administrative functions, Porter wrote, directed, and produced plays, operas and radio dramas. He also acted in plays and radio dramas. Many of his artistic endeavors were librettos written with Normand Lockwood who was composer-in-residence at the University of Denver from 1959-1968. These collaborative works include: Land of Promise, a piano-vocal score (1960); Early Dawn, an Opera(1961); No More from Thrones (1962); The Wizard of Balzar, an Operetta for Children; The Hanging Judge, an opera (1964) written for the University of Denver Centennial celebration. Porter also wrote a play entitled, Shale Oil. The materials in this collection document the professional life of R. Russell Porter. Administrative materials provide a chronological framework for the artistic works that follow. They include biographies, press releases and newspaper clippings, personnel records and evaluations, personal papers, photographs and correspondence.

During the early 1900's he moved to Los Angeles, Calif. and in 1910 played a minor part in the silent film, Over the Garden Wall. He was a member of the cast in the silent films: Mysterious Mrs. M (1917); The Unknown soldier (1917); The Jack-knife man (1920); Traveling on (1922); and Abraham Lincoln (1924). He worked in films from 1916-1926. He and his wife Carroll Marshall produced plays for the Burbank Theater. The collection consists of promptbooks, property plots, property lists, music plots, scene (set) plots, light plots, and sides that belonged to screen and stage actor Willis Marks along with scripts for late 19th century and early 20th century stock theater plays.