McKissack & McKissack is an outgrowth of the oldest minority-owned architecture/engineering firm in the United States.
Its roots go back to before the Civil War, when a slave named Moses McKissack learned the building trade from his overseer. It was his grandson, Moses III, who launched the first McKissack & McKissack in Nashville, Tennessee. The year was 1905.
McKissack & McKissack was founded by Deryl McKissack in 1990. When Ms. McKissack established her company, she was the fifth generation of her family to carry on the building tradition.
1941
The firm expands outside Tennessee. The firm received licenses from Alabama in 1941 and from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi in 1943. Tennessee authorities called McKissack and McKissack "...somewhat unique in the fact that it is one of the few Negro architectural firms in the country" and had "done some creditable work in Nashville."
1942
The McKissack firm is awarded a $5.7 million contract to design and build the 99th Pursuit Squadron Airbase in Tuskegee, AL, the largest federal contract at that time ever given to an African-American firm.
1968
William DeBerry, the youngest son of Moses III, takes the helm as President of the firm. He nurtured the talents of his daughters—Andrea, Cheryl and Deryl—who all excelled in the fields of architecture and engineering.
