The Bass-Ellison Building

The Bass-Ellison Building. Fredericksburg: Timeless.. , "Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service." , –Frederick Douglass, In the 1980s, the City of Fredericksburg converted this former bowling alley to house its Social Services and Health Departments. Its name reflects powerful traditions of service, embodied by two African American doctors. Urbane Francis Bass trained at Shaw University and provided medical care in this community in the early twentieth century. Richard C. Ellison graduated from Howard University Medical School and practiced medicine in Fredericksburg from the 1930s to the 1980s., During World War I, First Lieutenant Bass, U.S. Army Medical Corps, served with the racially segregated 372nd Regiment. Wounded on October 6, 1918, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) for "extraordinary heroism." Where Dr. Bass had been forced to practice without hospital privileges, Dr. Ellison broke that barrier and others. With other prominent African-American leaders, Dr. Ellison also participated in the Civil Rights Movement. He is buried in Caroline County., [Captions:] , Dr. Urbane Bass was buried in Fredericksburg's National Cemetery on July 23, 1921. Sixty five years later, his wife Maude joined him there., This stained glass window, installed in 1920 at Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site), commemorates Lieutenant Bass, killed in France during World War I., These two doctors had their offices on Amelia Street, an African American neighborhood of modest homes and small businesses. Their actual offices are no longer standing., Dr. Richard C. Ellison, Sr. served the Fredericksburg community for 51 years.