 The library was one of the few places in downtown Nashville that was not segregated, so it became a place where McKissack always felt welcome and where she learned her love for reading.While attending Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University now known as the Tennessee State University, McKissack met up with a childhood friend, Fredrick McKissack, who would later become her husband.She graduated with an English degree in 1964 while Fredrick obtained a civil engineering degree.