Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African American woman to earn a professional nursing license in the United States, is depicted in this albumen cabinet card by Child, Successor to McFadden, 6 Winter Street, Boston, produced circa 1882 to 1890. The studio at 6 Winter Street was occupied by James A. McFadden between 1882 and 1884, and the Child imprint identifies this card as produced by his successor at the same address.

The subject is shown in a three-quarter bust pose, seated and leaning slightly forward with arms crossed and resting on a surface. She wears a dark long-sleeved dress with a white ruffled bib front and small tie at the collar. Her hair is swept up and gathered at the crown. Her expression is composed and direct.

Mahoney (1845–1926) was the first African American to graduate from an American school of nursing, completing her training at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston in 1879. She went on to attract private clients among the most prominent Boston families during a forty-year career. In 1908 she co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, and in 1920 she was among the first women to register to vote in Boston. She was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 1976 and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.

The reverse is blank. A pencil inscription on the verso reads "Mary Eliza Mahoney."