A Woman Ahead of Her Time

Imagine being a nurse in 1900 and an assistant pharmacist in 1908! Hattie Marie Bean was born in 1867 in Fair Haven, VT; her parents were both native-born Canadians of French heritage. By 1880 her family had moved from Vermont to Moosic, PA, and she entered the IHMs at St. Rose, Carbondale, in 1897. But hers was an unusual postulancy and novitiate, because it was shortly after her entrance that she was sent to Columbia Training School for Nurses in Washington, DC, for two years and graduated from there in January of 1900. What a strong vocation she must have had, as she was away from the community for two years as a postulant! Imagine the celebration that must have occurred on her return to the IHMs! She was received in April of 1900 and professed in April of 1902.

From Greek mythology, this symbol, a bowl containing a medicinal potion with the serpent of Wisdom drinking from it, is symbolic of resurrection, and the bowl, health and medicine. It is used worldwide by pharmacists and medical professionals.

But Sister Rebecca was not finished with her search for medical knowledge. She was known as an exemplary religious and devoted infirmarian. Apparently she spent her free time reading and studying medicine, because in 1908, after a very difficult course of study, she obtained a diploma from the National Institute of Pharmacy in Chicago, IL. This was a tremendous accomplishment. In Erie, PA, and St. Paul, MN, newspaper accounts of her death it is noted that “she was one of few women to have a diploma as a fully qualified pharmacist.” Her study of pharmacy predated that of our Sister Anna Eleanor Flaherty (Sister Oswalda) who graduated from Columbia University in the 1930s.

Sadly, after a prolonged illness, possibly pleurisy, at age 48, Sister M. Rebecca Bean died on Friday, October 15, 1915, the feast of St. Teresa, at St. Mary’s Seminary. Her funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday, October 18 at St. Mary’s. In his homily, the Bishop mentioned that he had known her when she was a postulant and student nurse in Washington. He stated that she was “gentle, active, accommodating, kind-hearted, and generous.” Sister Rebecca is buried in the cemetery on the campus of Marywood University.

What a wonderful and awe-inspiring heritage we have in our early Sisters like Sister M. Rebecca Bean!

“Death of Sister M. Rebecca” Newspapers.com, The Times-Tribune, October 16, 1915,Scranton, PA, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-tribune-death-of-sister-mreb/146712934/ Accessed May 21, 2024.
The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 456.
“Just the Gist” Newspapers.com, Christian Home and School, October 29, 1915, Erie, PA, https://www.newspapers.com/article/christian-home-and-school-just-the-gist/149964592/Accessed June 24, 2024.
“Sister Pharmacist Dead” Newspapers.com, The Catholic Bulletin, November 6, 1915, St. Paul, MN, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-catholic-bulletin-sister-pharmacist/149964343/Accessed June 24, 2024.