[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.

[5]: 5  The firm's first major project was to design the Carnegie Library on the Fisk University campus, a two-story Classic Revival building constructed from brick with a stone columned porch, featuring an interior light well.

[17][18] Significant projects designed by Moses McKissack during the 1910s include the dormitories for Roger Williams University in Nashville and Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.

[5]: 5 Calvin McKissack started an independent practice in Dallas, Texas, in 1912, specializing in the design and construction of dormitories and black schools.

[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.

[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.