Beatrice E. Rosenbaum Nursing Scholarship

Beatrice E. Rosenbaum was born in 1906 in Coleman, Michigan to parents Beatrice and Pilliod. Her mother passed when she was two, and Beatrice and her 4 siblings lived with her father. At the age of six, she moved to Augusta to live with a sister. At the age of eight, she was placed in foster home and did not reconnect with her family.

Beatrice was in and out of multiple foster homes until the age of 13, when she moved in with Ma and Pa Collins in Scotts, Michigan. Ma passed when Beatrice was 17, so Beatrice moved to Vicksburg High School and lived with the Cohrs family while attending Vicksburg High School.

Beatrice was admitted to the last nursing class at the Battle Creek Sanitarium Nursing School, graduating after a grueling 3-year program (12 hour shifts, 6 days a year, 12 months a year) in 1932.

While at the Sanitorium, she met many patients from around the world, including J.C. Penny (of the clothing stores!) She studied long and hard, learning from those who represented the most advanced knowledge and medical care techniques then known.