The Cuban Heritage Collection (CHC) is the premier collection of research materials for Cuban and Cuban-American studies. It is the most comprehensive library of manuscripts, rare and contemporary books, and unique materials for the study of Cuba, its history, its people, and its culture in the island and abroad.

Among the CHC's most valuable and unique holdings are the manuscript collections of personal and corporate papers that document the lives and activities of individuals and organizations that comprise the different segments of the Cuban resident and exile communities. The CHC's manuscript collections consist of the personal papers of Cuban authors, artists, political figures, and others as well as the institutional records of cultural, social, and political organizations. These collections represent the full range of Cuban history and culture.

Guides to these collections are called finding aids, "the descriptive tool, published or unpublished, manual or electronic, produced by a creator, records center, archives, or manuscript repository to establish physical control and/or intellectual control over records and/or archival materials" (A Glossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators, and Records Managers, 1992). Several collections have finding aids that are published online, and select finding aids link to digital images of the contents of their respective collections.