Chambers was married to Louis G. Johnson with whom she had two daughters, Katherine and Margaretta. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1955, she married Robert William Chambers, with whom she had a son, James.

Her work with the High Museum of Art began in 1965 when she helped to establish the Forward Arts Foundation, a fund-raising group for the museum. In the early 1980s Chambers also served as honorary chair of the fund-raising effort to construct the museum’s Richard Meier designed complex. In October 2006, the High, in collaboration with the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, opened the exhibition “Louvre Atlanta”; the partnership had been facilitated by Chambers.

In 1974, upon the death of their brother, James M. Cox (known as “Jim Jr.”), Chambers and her sister Barbara Cox Anthony gained a controlling interest in the family company. That same year Chambers became chairwoman of Atlanta Newspapers. Anthony became chairwoman of Dayton Newspapers, while her husband, Garner Anthony, became the administrative head of Cox Enterprises. In 1988 Anthony’s son James Cox Kennedy became chairman and chief executive officer. Henceforth Chambers remained a close advisor concerning the daily operation of the company.

Chambers was also a supporter of a wide range of cultural and educational charities, particularly relating to the arts and international affairs. She served on the boards of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Atlanta Historical Society, and the Woodruff Arts Center, as well as on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pasteur Foundation, and the Whitney Museum in New York. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. In 1983, she received an honorary degree in Doctor of Laws from Oglethorpe University. Following her service in Belgium, she received the French Legion of Honour award.

In 2005, the museum named one of the wings of its expanded facility after Chambers in recognition of her lifetime of support.

Chambers died at her home in Atlanta on January 31, 2020, at the age of 100 due to natural causes. Congressman Carter of Georgia included a note of remembrance in the Congressional Record on February 11, 2020.