Albumen carte de visite portrait of Samuel Francis Smith (1808–1895), photographed by J. J. Hawes, 19 Tremont Row, Boston. Smith is shown in a three-quarter bust pose wearing a dark coat and bow tie. Hawes was formerly a partner in the celebrated Boston daguerreotype firm of Southworth & Hawes, among the most important American photographic studios of the mid-nineteenth century. The albumen process and mount style suggest a date circa 1860s.

Samuel Francis Smith was a Baptist minister and author best known for writing the patriotic hymn "My Country, ’Tis of Thee" in 1831, which became one of the most widely sung national songs in the United States during the nineteenth century. He was long associated with Baptist institutions in Massachusetts and remained a prominent religious and literary figure throughout his life.

The reverse bears the printed imprint "J. J. Hawes, Photographer, 19 Tremont Row, Boston." Contemporary pencil identification reads "Samuel Francis Smith ‘My Country tis of Thee’."