Moses McKissack III

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Moses McKissack III
Born
Gabriel Moses McKissack III

8 May 1879
Pulaski, Giles County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died12 December 1952
Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S.
Burial placeMount Ararat Cemetery
EducationSpringfield College
OccupationArchitect
SpouseMiranda P. Winter
Children6
RelativesCalvin Lunsford McKissack (brother)
Cheryl McKissack Daniel (granddaughter)

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]

Early life and education[edit]

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]

Career[edit]

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]

Death and legacy[edit]

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]

Works[edit]

See also: McKissack & McKissack, for listed work after 1922

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945. Routledge. pp. 386–389. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.
  2. ^ Saur, K. G. (2021). "McKissack, Moses". De Gruyter. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  3. ^ Craven, Jackie (November 10, 2019). "Black Architects After the Civil War". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  4. ^ Flynn, Katherine (August 11, 2021). "Pioneering Architects: The McKissack Family". AIA. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  5. ^ a b c Rust, Randal. "McKissack and McKissack Architects". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  6. ^ a b c d Smith, Jessie Carney (2006). Encyclopedia of African American Business: K-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 507–514. ISBN 978-0-313-33111-4.
  7. ^ a b c d e "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: McKissack and McKissack Buildings in Nashville (1908-1930) Thematic Resources" (PDF). National Park Service (1985). November 21, 1984. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e Smith, Jessie (2017-11-27). Encyclopedia of African American Business: Updated and Revised Edition, 2nd Edition [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 543–545. ISBN 978-1-4408-5028-8.
  9. ^ a b c "Moses McKissack, Architect born". African American Registry (AAREG). Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  10. ^ Botkin-Kowacki, Eva (February 11, 2015). "Black History Month: Master builder Moses McKissack III's legacy graces Nashville". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  11. ^ "McKissack and McKissack (1905-)". North Carolina State University Libraries, North Carolina State University. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  12. ^ a b Wynn, Linda T. "McKissack and McKissack Architects (1905- )". Tennessee State University.
  13. ^ a b "M. McKissack Sr Dies; Architect". The Tennessean. 1952-12-16. p. 30. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  14. ^ "Building Nashville: A History of the McKissack & McKissack Architecture Firm". Nashville Public Library. March 4, 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  15. ^ a b "Negro Architects Get Spauding Award". The Tennessean. 1942-10-25. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  16. ^ "M. McKissack, Contractor Dies". Alabama Tribune. 1952-12-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  17. ^ "Moses McKissack, Prominent Architect, Dies Here Today". Nashville Banner. 1952-12-15. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  18. ^ Walters, Jeff (2003-05-13). "Mose McKissack, family helped build Nashville". The Tennessean. p. 51. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  19. ^ a b Botkin-Kowacki, Eva (2014-02-04). "Moses McKissack III's Legacy Graces Nashville". The Tennessean. pp. A4. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  20. ^ "Shelbyville Notes". The Nashville Globe. 1912-12-06. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-02-14.

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

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