The Lydia Cabrera Papers are organized into two series:

Series 1: Correspondence, n.d., 1910-[1991?]

Organization: Subseries A. From Lydia Cabrera, n.d., 1910-1984 and Subseries B. To Lydia Cabrera, n.d., 1929-[1991?] Extent: 5 linear ft. (65 folders in six boxes)

Series I of the Lydia Cabrera Papers contains letters and other correspondence sent and received by Cabrera. Subseries A. consists of letters sent by Lydia Cabrera to various correspondents. It is arranged chronologically followed by her letters to selected correspondents alphabetically, specifically Isabel Castellanos, Katherine Dunham, Octavio Paz, and Pierre "Fatumbi" Verger.

The bulk of materials in Series I consists of correspondence received by Lydia Cabrera, organized into Subseries B. The first part of this subseries is arranged chronologically containing letters from various correspondents between 1929 and 1990. The second part of Subseries B. consists of letters to Cabrera from prominent correspondents or those with extensive correspondence with Cabrera. Included here are letters from Cuban writers Reinaldo Arenas, Gastón Baquero, Eugenio Florit, Enrique Labrador Ruiz, and Lino Novás Calvo; Cuban artist Amelia Peláez; Spanish poet Carmen Conde; and several French colleagues of Cabrera's, including Francis de Miomandre, Marcel Hiver, Roger Callois, Roger Bastide, and Pierre "Fatumbi" Verger, the renowned ethnographer of Afro-Brazilian religion and culture with whom Cabrera maintained a prolonged correspondence.

Series II. Personal Papers, n.d., 1916-1992

Organization: Subseries A. Family Papers, n.d., 1916-1989; Subseries B. Financial and Legal Records, n.d., 1930-1986; and Subseries C. Honors and Awards, n.d., 1973-1992

Extent: 4 linear ft. (89 folders and nine objects in seven boxes)

The personal papers of Lydia Cabrera can be found in Series II. Along with documents such as her passports, birth certificate, and curriculum vitae, this series contains notes regarding Cabrera’s family history; financial and legal records including information about book sales and rights; and clippings and other documents regarding the various honors and awards bestowed upon her.