From churches to college campuses, hospitals, courthouses and transit systems, the story of America’s built environment cannot be told without the hands that shaped it. And, few families have shaped it more profoundly than the McKissacks. Established over 120 years ago, McKissack and McKissack is the oldest Black-owned and female-led construction and design company in the United States, with a portfolio that boasts over 6,000 projects. A lineage of builders and carpenters, the McKissack family’s journey spans slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the modern era of billion-dollar infrastructure.
The story of the McKissacks dates back to the late 1700s when Moses McKissack I was brought to North Carolina from West Africa in chains at 12 years old. Trained by his enslaver in bricklaying and carpentry, he became a foreman of a crew, responsible for erecting barns and building homes and warehouses across the South. Once free, he sold his bricks. His son, Moses II, continued the craft, establishing McKissack Contractors. In 1905, Moses III, an accomplished carpenter, along with his brother, Calvin McKissack, founded McKissack and McKissack, the nation’s oldest Black-owned construction and design firm. They became the first licensed Black architects in Tennessee, after successfully petitioning a State law that initially denied them from taking the certification exam. They were later licensed in more than 20 other states.
The firm began operating in Pulaski, Tennessee, which is also the place where the Ku Klux Klan was founded. In those early years, the firm primarily served Black institutions, with their work including churches and Historically Black colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Despite operating under the weight of segregation and racism, at a time when discriminatory lending was the norm, the firm defied racial barriers, building a reputation for precision, reliability and excellence, and securing major contracts nearly unheard of for Black-owned firms at the time. One of the most historically significant came in 1942, when the firm secured what was then the largest federal contract ever won by an African American firm - to design the Tuskegee Army Airfield. The site would be used for training the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first Black military pilots in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
For decades, the firm continued its work, expanding its portfolio, and entering a new era in the late 20th century with the opening of its first office in New York City in 1991. By 1998, it expanded into Philadelphia. In 2000, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, a fifth-generation leader, was named President and CEO.
“When I first took over the company, it was the beginning of minority and women-owned programs… Most of the time the thought was that I could not provide quality work or I did not know what I was doing. I didn’t have good staff. I didn’t have funding.” - Cheryl McKissack, President and CEO, PBS News
Despite the skepticism and structural barriers, she transformed the firm into a powerhouse in construction management and program oversight. Under her leadership, McKissack & McKissack guided complex, multi-billion dollar projects, while preserving the legacy of the family-owned enterprise.
Today, the firm’s footprint can be found across some of the nation’s most significant developments. Their contribution to the Barclay Arena was a pivotal moment, catapulting them into the transportation sector. They were responsible for moving the rail where trains were being stored to make way for the Barclay Arena’s foundation. Their rail division then brought on clients like New York State’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), where McKissack served as the Prime Contractor, providing oversight for multiple projects, including expansion projects and reconstruction.
The firm also contributed to the Medgar Evers College New Science and Student Services building in 2002, as well as projects at Columbia University, the development of the new state-of-the-art Coney Island Hospital and the modernization of LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
McKissack also provided program and construction management services for the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Spanning 10 stories and 350,000 square feet, and housing a collection of approximately 40,000 objects, it is the world’s largest museum dedicated to African American history and culture.
The McKissack story is one of ownership. They didn’t just overcome barriers but built beyond them. For six generations, they turned skill into ownership and ownership into legacy. Their story is proof that when we directly contribute to the spaces around us, we build legacy, opportunity and a future shaped by our own hands.
In 2025, Cheryl McKissack released the book The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers. The book chronicles the story of the McKissack family and their role in shaping the nation. As she told Forbes, “The power of legacy, entrepreneurship, and owning your own business is the true way to control your destiny…I hope this book inspires people.”
