In 1905, The Mississippi Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church founded the Mississippi Industrial College in Holly Springs under the leadership of Bishop Elias Cottrell. His objectives were to provide literary and industrial training to black youth, to train young men and women in Christian ideals, and to furnish a practical education. The school began its first session in January of 1906 and by May of that year had two hundred students enrolled.

The school closed its' doors in 1982, and the campus now lies in disrepair. The Mississippi Industrial College Alumni Association, Inc. (MICAAI) organized in November of 1999 for the purpose of saving the buildings and the 120-acre campus.