The college was founded by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster Millsaps in 1889-90 by the donation of the college's land and $50,000. Dr. William Belton Murrah was the college's first president, and Bishop Charles Betts Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, which with mergers, became the present day United Methodist Church, organized the college's early fund-raising efforts. Both men now have halls named in their honor. Major Millsaps and his wife are interred in a tomb near the center of campus.

The Millsaps-Wilson Library is dedicated to the educational program of Millsaps College as described in the Millsaps Purpose. The library is charged with the responsibility of helping to implement the aims of the institution by motivating student and faculty interest in the library for research, information, study, and general intellectual development through its resources. To this end, the library must acquire and make available to students and faculty a comprehensive and useful range of core and research resources that are needed for learning in a liberal arts environment that includes limited professional and pre-professional training. This responsibility implies the inherent charge to motivate students to explore independent intellectual pursuits. While emphasis is placed on the library as a learning resources center for the campus, it is open to the local community and other institutions through interlibrary lending and cooperative efforts. The library is administered as an integral part of the academic program and every effort is made to coordinate its activities with the instructional areas of the College.

Urban, 103 acres (417,000 m�)