An unidentified young man in the uniform of a local Y. M. C. A. athletic club poses with easy confidence in this sharp cabinet card by Graeff, Photographer, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, dated on the reverse August 30, 1882. The ribbon pinned to his chest bears the initials YMAC, most consistent with a Young Men's Athletic Club, one of the many locally organized athletic associations active across Pennsylvania in the early 1880s before the formation of the Amateur Athletic Union in 1888 standardized amateur sport in America.

The subject stands with one hand resting on a studio prop pedestal draped with ivy and the other holding a short thin cane at his side. He wears a dark fitted athletic blouse with button front and piped cuffs, a small checkered bow tie, matching dark knee breeches with white stockings, and white lace-up athletic shoes. A small dark cap sits squarely on his head. The complete uniform portrait, brought into the studio with club ribbon proudly displayed, marks this as a deliberate record of membership and athletic identity.

The reverse bears the printed imprint of Graeff, Photographer, Lebanon, Pa. in plain text on the lower mount face. Manuscript notations read "Aug. 30 — 1882" at upper right, "YMCA" written vertically at left in quotation marks, and the catalog number 9453 at lower left.