The South Central Modern Language Association was organized during 1940 as a result of the stimulus from the 1939 meeting of the Modern Language Association at New Orleans. The SCMLA is an educational and non-profit organization committed to promoting the scholarly interests of its members. The first meeting of the SCMLA was held on November 1 and 2, 1940 at the invitation of Centenary College. Membership was 177 with a program of 47 papers presented in 10 sessions, including English, French, German, Spanish, Spanish-American and American Literature.

Today, the association, housed at the University of Oklahoma, boasts a membership of over 1700 with an annual convention program of more than 400 papers presented in 112 Regular, Special, and Allied sessions. It is one of the six regional Modern Language Associations in the United States and is affiliated with the Modern Language Association of America, headquartered in New York. Primarily, the SCMLA represents professors at universities and colleges in the south central region of the United States, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and the western portion of Tennessee. Members teach in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Comparative Literature. In recent years SCMLA has increasingly attracted members from all areas of the U.S.