UT did not admit women when Martha Henson would have attended, but when her will was read in 1927, it included a bequest to UT of just under $45,000 in cash, 27 acres of land in Knox County, and one-fourth interest in 507 acres in Owsley County, Kentucky—a gift valued at $200,000 at the time she made the will—to construct a women’s dormitory. Because of declining value of investments due to the Depression, a gift of property from the Alumni Association and borrowed money were required to build this building in 1930. It was at first called the Girls New Dormitory and was named for Henson in 1931 to utilize her bequest, which totaled $63,000.
The building was designed by Barber and McMurry and cost $150,000. It had a capacity of 150 women (in double rooms) and provided a well-furnished reception room, ironing rooms, shower rooms, and a lounging room, where the residents were allowed to smoke and to play cards. Of considerable consternation, it had only one telephone. It had ice-water fountains on all floors. The rooms were furnished with maple furniture, and there were buzzers for each room.
The sororities, which had rooms in the basement of Humes, moved to Henson upon its completion. In 1931–32, Henson was the institution’s most expensive dormitory—rooms in Henson cost $110 per year, while residents in other halls paid $92 per year. In 1943 Henson briefly served as a men’s dormitory to house the air cadets training on campus, and it became a men’s dormitory in 1965.
The building was taken out of service in summer 1968 and converted to office space. It was first occupied by the College of Education, housing the Departments of Administrative Supervision, Business Education, Distributive Education, and the graduate assistants of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Following the completion of the Jane and David Bailey Education Complex addition to the Philander P. Claxton Building, College of Education personnel vacated the structure. The Graduate School of Planning and the Graduate School of Social Work used it, and then it was used solely by the College of Social Work.