Moses McKissack III

Moses McKissack III (1879–1952), was an American architect.^[1][2][3] He had his own architecture firm McKissack Company from 1905 until 1922,^[4] and was active in Tennessee and Alabama. In a partnership with his brother Calvin Lunsford McKissack, they founded the architecture firm McKissack & McKissack in 1922.^[5][6]

Gabriel Moses McKissack III was born on May 8, 1879, in Pulaski, Tennessee.^[7] He had six brothers.^[8] His father Gabriel Moses McKissack II, whom he shared his name with, was a carpenter and builder; and his mother was Dolly Ann (née Maxwell).^[6][7][9]

His paternal grandfather Moses was from the Ashanti tribe (or Asante tribe, modern-day Ghana) and he was enslaved in 1790.^[1] His grandfather was purchased by William McKissack, a white builder who taught him the building trade.^[1][10] His grandfather married Mirian (1804–1865), who was Cherokee, and together they had fourteen children.^[8]

McKissack attended Pulaski Colored High School.^[11] He apprenticed in construction drawings for 5 years under James Porter.^[9] He also attended classes at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts and obtained architectural degrees through a correspondence course.^[12] In 1896, McKissack had moved to prepared construction drawings for B. F. McGrew and Pitman & Peterson.^[9]

From 1895 until 1905, McKissack built houses in Decatur, Alabama; Mount Pleasant, Tennessee; and Columbia, Tennessee.^[5] Followed by a move to Nashville in 1905, in order to open his own architecture firm McKissack Company, initially located in the Napier Court Building.^[5][8] His first document client was Granberry Jackson Sr., the Dean of architecture and engineering at Vanderbilt University.^[1] After in which he designed many other residences for faculty at Vanderbilt University.^[1] The firm's first major project was design of the Fisk University Carnegie Library (1908). This is a two-story Classic Revival style building was constructed from brick with a stone columned porch, and features an interior light well; its cornerstone was laid in 1908 by William Howard Taft, then the U.S. Secretary of War.^[7][12] Major projects designed by Moses McKissack during the 1910s included the main campus building for the Turner Normal and Industrial School for Negroes (1912) in Shelbyville, Tennessee; dormitories for Roger Williams University in Nashville; and Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.^[1] By 1920, Moses McKissack had acquired design clients throughout Nashville.

In 1912, he married Miranda P. Winter, together they had six sons.^[1][13]

In 1921, after the state of Tennessee instituted a registration law for architects, the McKissack brothers became two of the first registered architects in the state.^[7] In 1922, Calvin McKissack joined Moses and the brothers established the partnership of McKissack & McKissack.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed McKissack to the White House Conference on Housing Problems.^[1] In 1942, McKissack & McKissack received a large U.S. federal government contract to build and design the 99th Pursuit Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen) Air Base at Tuskegee, Alabama.^[14] The Air Base contract was the largest federal contract ever awarded to an African American company, valued at approximately US $5.8 million, and it made national news.^[1][15] The brothers were each awarded the Spaulding Medal by the National Negro Business League in 1942, for outstanding business achievements.^[15]

He died on December 12, 1952, in his home in Nashville.^[13][16][17] His funeral service was held at the church he was a member, Caper Memorial Christian Church.^[6]

The McKissack family helped build the city Nashville.^[18][19] The McKissack Park neighborhood, the McKissack Park, and McKissack Middle School, all of which are in Nashville were named in his honor.^[6][7] A number of McKissack buildings are listed as National Register of Historic Places by the United States National Park Service.^[8][19]

• Roger Williams University dorms, Nashville, Tennessee
• Lane College, Jackson, Tennessee
• Granberry Jackson Sr. residence (now Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity house at Vanderbilt University), 204 24th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee^[1]
• Carnegie Library (1908), 17th Avenue North, Fisk University campus, Nashville, Tennessee. NRHP-listed.
• Turner Industrial School main building (1912), Shelbyville, Tennessee^[20][21]
• House residence (1919), 340 Chesterfield, Nashville, Tennessee
• Comer residence (1920), 1411 Eastland Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee
• Bastian residence (1921), 3722 Central Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee
• Sexton residence (1921), 3506 Byron Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee
• George Hubbard House (1921), 1109 First Avenue South, Nashville. Colonial Revival, NRHP-listed^[8]

• African-American architects

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.