I know nothing about this stuff and am not even sure it can be done. Over 10 years ago my mom gave me her cedar hope chest that she got when she married my dad. I was young and dumb and didn't think it "looked cool" so I spray painted it black. Dumb, I know. Now I want to fix it somehow back to how it was. Can this be done? If so how? Thank you.

MMM it depends. If you painted over plain wood then the paint is deep into the fibers, so even if you remove the top layer still you would have ruined the original finish.

But it would required to see the chest to make sure it can be restored or not. And even if it can be restored it wont be 100% "back to how it was"

If you relly care about the chest then take it to a good furniture craftman-restorer. If it can be done it will require a lot of expert work (if you want it to look really good) because this is not an easy do-it-yourself project.

If you still want to go the "do-it-yourself" way, then start on a small hidden area like the bottom, that way if you make it worst you'll have time to back off and leave it to the experts.