The Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library was founded in 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. On November 30, 2017, the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Museum was officially unveiled on the fourth floor of Mississippi State University’s Mitchell Memorial Library. The USGPL contains the collections of the USGA, the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana, and the Mississippi Political Collections.
The USGA, the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant editorial project, and its collections have been at Mississippi State University since 2009. Prior to MSU the USGA was housed at Southern Illinois university where it was led by long-time Executive Director Dr. John Y. Simon. After Simon passed away in 2008, the USGA Board chose Dr. John F. Marszalek as its second Executive Director. With the support of the USGA and Mississippi State University, the USGPL seeks to preserve the history of and present the life of President Ulysses S. Grant to scholars, students, and the general public.
In the past, the Library has received funding from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and the National Endowment for the Humanities.