Consists of estate records of Marie Claire Chabert (1769-1847), a free African American woman and property owner living in 19th century New Orleans prior to the Civil War. The earliest materials consist of records of Jacques Tisserand documenting his purchase and manumission of Chabert, as well as her management of his estate, which he bequeathed to her. Documents related to Chabert's own property in New Orleans include an act of sale and survey of two lots of land she purchased from Joseph Bocage in 1810, a certificate regarding a sidewalk survey conducted in 1841, as well as her tax receipts from 1811 to 1845. There are also a number of legal records, including bills of sale, manumission papers, and wills documenting her efforts to purchase and manumit her own family members, including several nieces (Marie Jeanne, Martine, Adélaïde, and Louise), a woman named Rosalie, and Michel Bouligny, a man whom she later married. There are also bills for funeral expenses Chabert paid following the deaths of Rosalie and her husband. The two separate versions of Chabert's will present in the collection document her efforts to manumit and bequeath her property to her remaining family members while navigating legal prohibitions on enslaved persons' ability to inherit.

There is also a narrative account of Chabert's life and description of the papers, which was written and inserted later by collector Felix Limongi. In the account, Limongi explains that he saw these records as noteworthy claiming they offered evidence "that slaves if they were only thrifty and decent could very often buy their freedom."