# Lee Roy Chapman > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lee_Roy_Chapman > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lee_Roy_Chapman.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Roy_Chapman > Source revision: 1330595927 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American historian and citizen journalist (1969–2015)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Lee Roy Chapman | image = | caption = Chapman c. 2011 | birth_date = {{birth date|1969|3|31}} | birth_place = San Angelo, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|10|8|1969|3|31}} | death_place = Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | occupation = Historian of [Tulsa, Oklahoma](/source/Tulsa%2C_Oklahoma) | known_for = [Center for Public Secrets](/source/Center_for_Public_Secrets), ''The Nightmare of Dreamland'' }} '''Lee Roy Chapman''' (March 31, 1969 – October 8, 2015) was an American public historian, citizen journalist, activist, and artist whose research reshaped contemporary understanding of [Tulsa, Oklahoma's](/source/Tulsa%2C_Oklahoma) racial history. ==Early life== Chapman was born in [San Angelo, Texas](/source/San_Angelo%2C_Texas), to Lee Roy Chapman Jr. and Susan Lee (Smith) Chapman and moved to Tulsa when he was about four years old.{{cite web |last=Eaton |first=Kristi |title=A citizen journalist's legacy lives on: Telling Tulsa's hidden secrets |url=https://ijnet.org/en/story/citizen-journalists-legacy-lives-telling-tulsas-hidden-secrets |website=[International Journalists’ Network](/source/International_Journalists%E2%80%99_Network) |date=22 January 2021 |access-date=16 May 2025}} Largely self-taught, he honed [screen printing](/source/screen_printing) skills and developed a passion for locating obscure artifacts that documented Oklahoma's counter-histories.{{cite web |last=Branstetter |first=Ziva |title=Lee Roy Chapman remembered as 'tenacious' truth teller |website=[The Frontier](/source/The_Frontier_(website)) |date=13 October 2015 |url=https://www.readfrontier.org/friends-remember-lee-roy-chapman-as-truth-teller-dedicated-historian/ |access-date=16 May 2025}} In June 1989, when Chapman was 20, his mother died in a [murder–suicide](/source/murder%E2%80%93suicide) in Tulsa.{{cite news |author= |title=Two Tulsans Dead in Homicide-Suicide |work=[Tulsa World](/source/Tulsa_World) |date=29 June 1989 |url=https://tulsaworld.com/archive/two-tulsans-dead-in-homicide-suicide/article_779a9433-1afc-5f27-ab26-2af000fbbf40.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=23 September 2025}}{{clarify|date=October 2025|reason=1) was she the murder victim or the perpetrator 2) what was her connection to the other dead person}} In the early 1990s, Chapman moved to [Austin, Texas](/source/Austin%2C_Texas) where he learned to screen print with artist [Frank Kozik](/source/Frank_Kozik).{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} ==Career== ===Investigative writing=== Chapman began working with [This Land Press](/source/This_Land_Press) and its founding editor, [Michael Paul Mason](/source/Michael_Paul_Mason) in April 2010. His first project entailed the research for an issue of its namesake magazine, ''[This Land](/source/This_Land_(magazine))'', devoted to ''The White Dove Review'', a poetry journal founded by Tulsa poet [Ron Padgett](/source/Ron_Padgett).{{cite magazine |first=Joshua |last=Kline |title=The White Dove Review |magazine=[This Land](/source/This_Land_(magazine)) |date=2024-11-18 |orig-date=1 November 2010 |url=https://thepickup.com/the-white-dove-review |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-10-27 |via=thepickup.com}} As a contributing editor of ''This Land'', Chapman published ''The Nightmare of Dreamland: Tate Brady and the Battle for Greenwood'' in 2011, revealing Tulsa founder [W. Tate Brady](/source/W._Tate_Brady)'s affiliation with the [Ku Klux Klan](/source/Ku_Klux_Klan) and role in the 1921 [Tulsa Race Massacre](/source/Tulsa_Race_Massacre).{{cite web |title=About the Center |url=https://www.centerforpublicsecrets.org/about |website=Center for Public Secrets |access-date=16 May 2025}} The article prompted the [Tulsa City Council's](/source/Government_of_Tulsa%2C_Oklahoma) 2013 decision to rename Brady Street, as well as the Brady Arts District's decision to rebrand as the Tulsa Arts District. On the District he wrote:{{blockquote|Today, the Brady Arts District is the focal point of multi-million dollar developments involving local organizations such as the [George Kaiser Family Foundation](/source/George_Kaiser_Family_Foundation), the Oklahoma Museum of Music and Popular Culture, the [University of Tulsa](/source/University_of_Tulsa), [Gilcrease Museum](/source/Gilcrease_Museum), [Philbrook Museum](/source/Philbrook_Museum_of_Art), and the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa. Local businesses also thrive in the district: numerous bars and restaurants, the family-owned [Cain's Ballroom](/source/Cain's_Ballroom) (which once served as Brady's garage), and the Tulsa Violin Shop, to name a few. A large [new ballpark](/source/Oneok_Field) separates the Brady district and the [Greenwood](/source/Greenwood_District%2C_Tulsa) area.{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=Lee Roy |date=2023-08-23 |title=The Nightmare of Dreamland: Tate Brady and The Tulsa Outrage |url=https://www.centerforpublicsecrets.org/post/the-nightmare-of-dreamland-tate-brady-and-the-tulsa-outrage |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=CfPS}}}} In 2013, Chapman and Mason wrote the article "Subterranean Psychonaut", about [Gordon Todd Skinner](/source/Gordon_Todd_Skinner), a government operative and a central figure in the world's largest LSD bust, which would be Chapman's last contribution to ''This Land''.{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Paul Mason |date=2025-03-15 |title=The Psychonaut Files |url=https://psychonautfiles.substack.com/about}} ===Center for Public Secrets=== Chapman began assembling what would later become the [Center for Public Secrets](/source/Center_for_Public_Secrets) (CfPS) in the late 1990s, formally launching it in 2008 as a repository for "hidden, neglected and misunderstood" Oklahoma history. CfPS curates exhibitions, podcasts and a digital library of artifacts; items Chapman located now reside in institutions such as the [Smithsonian's](/source/Smithsonian_Institution) [National Museum of African American History and Culture](/source/National_Museum_of_African_American_History_and_Culture) and [Yale University](/source/Yale_University). ===Other projects=== Beyond archival work, Chapman produced [documentaries](/source/Documentary_film) and [guerrilla art installations](/source/Guerrilla_art). He also appeared in public forums.{{Cite web |last=Bates |first=Michael |date=2015-10-20 |title=Lee Roy Chapman curriculum vitae |url=https://www.batesline.com/archives/2015/10/lee-roy-chapman-curriculum-vitae.html |access-date=2025-06-06 |website=CfPS}} Chapman was involved in the [antiquarian book trade](/source/Antiquarian_book_trade_in_the_United_States) and managed Oak Tree Books in Tulsa. After his death, the bookstore closed in 2016, but it was reopened in 2024.{{Cite web |date=6 August 2025 |title=Oak Tree Books History |url=https://oaktreebookstulsa.com/history |access-date=6 August 2025 |website=Oak Tree Books Tulsa}}{{Cite news |last=Reeves |first=Z.B |date=9 April 2025 |title=The Resurrection Of Oak Tree Books |url=https://thepickup.com/the-resurrection-of-oak-tree-books |access-date=6 August 2025 |work=The Pickup}} ==Death and legacy== Chapman died by suicide at his Tulsa residence on October 8, 2015; he was 46.{{cite news |last1=Egner |first1=Jeremy |title=Sterlin Harjo Isn't Afraid of the Sophomore Slump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/arts/television/sterlin-harjo-the-lowdown.html |access-date=October 6, 2025 |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=September 23, 2025}} A memorial service at [Cain's Ballroom](/source/Cain's_Ballroom) drew hundreds of admirers. The Center for Public Secrets opened a physical space in 2020, continuing his mission to train "history-recovery specialists" and challenge dominant narratives about Tulsa. He is the inspiration for the main character Lee Raybon in the [FX](/source/FX_(TV_channel)) series ''[The Lowdown](/source/The_Lowdown_(American_TV_series))'', played by [Ethan Hawke](/source/Ethan_Hawke).{{Cite news |last1=Carney |first1=Mark |last2=Chesser |first2=Alicia |date=15 May 2025 |title=After He Was Chicago Pope, And Before He Was Pope-Pope, He Was Tulsa Pope |url=https://thepickup.com/after-he-was-chicago-pope-and-before-he-was-pope-pope-he-was-tulsa-pope |access-date=24 May 2025 |work=[The Pickup](/source/This_Land_Press)}} ==References== {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Lee Roy}} Category:1969 births Category:2015 deaths Category:21st-century American historians Category:American alternative journalists Category:Historians from Oklahoma Category:Tulsa race massacre Category:2015 suicides --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lee Roy Chapman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Roy_Chapman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Roy_Chapman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.