Betty Anne Lipper was born in 1921 in Houston, Texas, to Lawrence Lipper and Betty Silverman. Betty Lipper married Hartwig Moss II and had two children. Moss attended Newcomb College and Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Colombia, Missouri, and received a bachelor's in journalism from Tulane in 1942. Moss later returned to Tulane in the 1950s and earned a bachelor's degree in Architecture in 1960. After over forty years, Moss was awarded a master's degree in architecture from Tulane in 2004. Starting her practice in her 40s, Moss continued to work for more than four decades and produced designs for many houses and small office buildings in New Orleans. An outspoken defender of building preservation and conservation, Moss ardently defended against the demolition of the Rivergate (an exhibition center) on Canal Street in New Orleans. The Rivergate was demolished; and, Moss and Abbye A. Gorin wrote a six-minute film about the structure. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Moss composed plans for rebuilding and safety guidelines for disaster prevention. Betty Moss died October 22, 2007.