McKissack & McKissack is an American design, program management and construction firm based in New York. It is the oldest Black-owned architecture and construction company in the United States.[7]
The firm was founded in 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee by Moses McKissack, the grandson of an enslaved person brought to the United States from West Africa and put to work making bricks. Moses III became an accomplished carpenter and eventually teamed with his brother Calvin McKissack to found the company.[8][5][9]
Over its 118-year history, the company has completed over 6,000 public- and privately-funded planning, design, and construction projects.[10][11]
History
The firm was founded by Moses McKissack III (May 8, 1879 – December 12, 1952) in 1905, who was later joined by his brother Calvin Lunsford McKissack (February 23, 1890 – March 2, 1968) to form the McKissack & McKissack partnership in 1922.[12] The brothers were natives of Pulaski, Tennessee.[13][12] Their father (Moses McKissack II) and grandfather (Moses McKissack) were both trained builders.[13][12] Moses McKissack was sold into slavery after being captured in West Africa and was sold to an American contractor named William McKissack of North Carolina.[14] Moses was trained to make bricks for construction projects and became a master builder.[14] When Moses was eventually granted his freedom, he began to sell his bricks.[14][15]
Moses McKissack II became a master carpenter and built the gingerbread finishes on the Maxwell House Hotel.[16] Moses McKissack III entered the architecture trade by working as an apprentice to a builder in Pulaski who hired him in 1890 to assist with architectural designs, drawings and building construction.[5]: 3 His formal education was obtained at the Pulaski Colored High School.[5]: 3 Calvin McKissack was educated at Fisk University in Nashville, which he attended from 1905 to 1909.[5]: 5 Both brothers obtained architectural degrees through a correspondence course.[5]: 5 [12]
Calvin McKissack started an independent practice in Dallas, Texas, in 1912, specializing in the design and construction of dormitories and black schools.[5]: 5 In 1915, he returned to Tennessee, becoming superintendent of industries and a teacher of architectural drawing at the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School.[14] In 1918, Calvin joined the faculty of Pearl High School as director of the industrial arts department and later became the first executive secretary of the Tennessee State Association of Teachers in Colored Schools.[17][14] In 1921, McKissack & McKissack built the historic Hubbard House in Nashville.[14]
When Tennessee instituted a registration law for architects in 1922, the McKissack brothers were initially denied their licenses.[5]: 6 However, after petitioning the state and obtaining architectural degrees, the brothers got their licenses and became the first licensed black architects in the United States [5]: 2 [15]
Moses McKissack III died on December 12, 1952. Calvin McKissack remained with the firm until he died in 1968.[17] William DeBerry McKissack, the youngest son of Moses III, then succeeded his uncle as president of the firm.[17][9] After suffering a stroke, he retired due to illness,[17] and his wife, Leatrice Buchanan McKissack, became chief executive officer.[19]
Leatrice's daughter Cheryl McKissack Daniel opened a McKissack & McKissack office in New York City in 1990.[16] In 2000, Cheryl McKissack Daniel bought the company from her mother and dissolved the original business, paying out shareholders and closing their offices in the south.[16][20] She then re-established McKissack & McKissack as sole owner of the company.[16] The company closed its Nashville office in May 2002, making its New York City offices its corporate headquarters.[18]
McKissack & McKissack is headquartered in Manhattan, with additional offices in Philadelphia and Mount Vernon.[10] Since her 2000 purchase of the company, McKissack Daniel has served as CEO and President.[16][20] As of 2019, McKissack & McKissack has approximately 150 employees.[21]
Works
As of 1975, McKissack & McKissack had completed over 3,000 building projects, including about 2,000 churches.[5] Several buildings designed by Moses McKissack, Calvin McKissack, or the McKissack & McKissack firm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[5][22]
^ ab"McKissack & McKissack". AT&T Tennessee African-American History Calendar. AT&T. July 2013. Archived from the original on January 5, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
^ ab"WELCOME". mckissack.com. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^Sources disagree on the date of his retirement. The AT&T Tennessee African-American History Calendar gives it as 1975, while the National Visionary Leadership Project gives it as 1983.
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