To accommodate the growing student body, in 1937 BYU began constructing its first building meant specifically for use as a student dormitory. Utahn architect Joseph Nelson designed the building in the style of Jacobethan Revival, including gabled parapets and striated brick, and BYU students donated time and labor as construction workers to help building contractor Louis De Young turn Nelson’s vision into reality.
\nCompleted in 1938, the dormitory accommodated up to seventy residents, which BYU set aside for specifically male students. BYU named the building Allen Hall, after Inez Knight Allen and R. Eugene “Gene” Allen. The Allens were the daughter and son-in-law of Jesse Knight, a Latter-day Saint philanthropist who had financially supported BYU (a loan from the Knight Endowment Fund financed Allen Hall itself), and they were accomplished Latter-day Saints in their own right. Inez had been a student at BYU’s predecessor, Brigham Young Academy’s Normal Training School, from 1892 to 1896, where she studied pedagogy and philosophy. Two years after that, Knight became one of the first single sister missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving for twenty-six months in Great Britain from 1898 to 1900. Gene was also a Brigham Young Academy alumnus; he also studied at Rochester Business College. As an officer of Knight Trust and Savings Bank, Gene managed the Knight Fund. Gene and Inez married in 1902, and they became philanthropists in their communities, following Jesse Knight’s example.
\nBYU considered Allen Hall such a success as a housing unit that it immediately drew up plans to build another dormitory building, this time for women, which it named Amanda Knight Hall and completed in 1939. BYU Students lived in Allen Hall for the next twenty-four years. Though originally intended only for men, when an influx of female students strained available housing during the mid-1940s, BYU temporarily used Allen Hall to house both men and women, renting first-floor rooms to men and second- and third-floor rooms to women. Eventually, the first floor was converted to women’s housing as well, and men did not fully occupy Allen Hall again until 1953.
\nIn the 1950s, BYU built new dorms to house its increasingly numerous students, perhaps making Allen Hall less significant to BYU’s overall housing needs. Students stopped living in Allen Hall in 1962, and the Church’s Language Training Mission took over the building to house missionaries-in-training. In 1980, BYU took over the building again and used it to host its Museum of Peoples and Cultures for over thirty years. After the museum moved to its present location on Canyon Road in 2014, BYU occasionally used Allen Hall to accommodate university employees when construction created a shortage of office space.
\nFour years later, in June 2018, BYU announced plans to demolish Allen Hall on the grounds that its age made it unusable for university purposes. Preservation Utah, a historical preservation nonprofit, objected to the planned demolition, arguing that losing Allen Hall would “erase a key part of the university’s story of historical growth and expansion.”
\nDespite Preservation Utah’s passion, however, its intervention came too late. BYU demolished Allen Hall in August 2018. As of January 2022, BYU maintains the empty lot as a grass field.
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"An empty lot remains where Allen Hall once was.","lede":"Named for philanthropic couple R. Eugene Allen and Inez Knight Allen, Allen Hall was established to accommodate growing numbers of students from beyond Utah Valley matriculating at Brigham Young University. BYU demolished the eighty-year-old building in 2018.","website":"","related_resources":["“Amanda Inez Knight.” Church History Biographical Database. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Accessed December 24, 2021. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/amanda-inez-knight-1876.","Amott, David. “Guest Opinion: BYU Is Working Against Its Heritage,” Deseret News, August 25, 2018, https://www.deseret.com/2018/8/25/20651912/guest-opinion-byu-is-working-against-its-heritage.
","Bigelow, Sam. “Fond Memories, Frustrations Remain for Amanda Knight Hall.” Daily Universe, February 15, 2019. https://universe.byu.edu/2019/02/15/fond-memories-frustrations-remain-for-amanda-knight-hall-1/.","Biographical history of R. Eugene Allen. In the finding aid for the R. Eugene Allen papers. L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. http://www.archives.lib.byu.edu/agents/people/10901.","Broschinksy, Korral. National Register of Historic Places registration form for Amanda Knight Hall. July 15, 2021. https://history.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PRES-UT_Utah-County_Amanda-Knight-Hall_form-compressed.pdf.","BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures. “Goodbye to Allen Hall.” Facebook, August 2, 2018. https://www.facebook.com/byu.mpc/videos/10156341974613046/.","Daines, Gordon. “Allen Hall.” Special Collections Blog, July 5, 2012. L. Tom Perry Special Collections. https://scblog.lib.byu.edu/2012/07/05/allen-hall/.","Dedication and Naming of 22 Buildings. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, May 26, 1954. In folder 3, box 87, Office of the President Records collection, University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. https://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/ltpsc/archival_objects/3f12d0f1a24c84f043c4442f985357f6.","Dodson, Braley. “Preservation Utah Releases Statement Condemning Allen Hall Demolition.” Daily Herald, July 12, 2018. https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2018/jul/12/preservation-utah-releases-statement-condemning-allen-hall-demolition/.","Evans, Brian K. “Plans for Allen Hall and Amanda Knight Hall.” University Communications, June 29, 2018. Brigham Young University. https://news.byu.edu/news/plans-allen-hall-and-amanda-knight-hall.","Hatch, Ephraim. Brigham Young University: A Pictorial History of Physical Facilities, 1875–2005. Provo, UT: Physical Facilities Division, Brigham Young University, 2005. Americana collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.","Lelegren, Kelly. “‘Real, Live Mormon Women’: Understanding the Role of Early Twentieth-Century LDS Lady Missionaries.” Master’s thesis, Utah State University, 2009. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/415/.","Swensen, Jason. “BYU’s Respected Museum of Peoples and Cultures Enjoying New Digs.” Church News, July 31, 2015. https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2015-07-31/byus-respected-museum-of-peoples-and-cultures-enjoying-new-digs-32148.","Talbot, Bridger. “BYU: Allen Hall.” Historic LDS Architecture (blog), December 25, 2014. http://www.ldspioneerarchitecture.blogspot.com/2014/12/byu-allen-hall.html.","“‘They Can Bear Testimony, They Can Teach.’” Church History, August 24, 2018. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/they-can-bear-testimony-they-can-teach.","Wilkinson, Ernest L., ed. Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years. Vol. 2. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1975. https://archive.org/details/brighamyounguniv03wilk."],"factoids":["Inez Knight Allen was the first woman from Utah County to be nominated for the state senate. During her campaign, Democrat presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan visited Provo and endorsed Allen’s candidacy. Although Allen nevertheless lost the election, she stayed active in politics and was a delegate to national Democratic Conventions over the years.","A pamphlet for dedication services held in 1954 described the Allens thus: “Gene and Inez Allen were both modest people and would be embarrassed by these words. But their lives will remain patterns for good living to the many who knew them intimately.”"],"files":{"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/e76dcda921fabedf4001fd384ec9cd90.jpg":{"id":2405,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Allen Hall","description":"This photograph was taken in 1938, the year BYU finished building Allen Hall. The gabled windows are characteristic of Allen Hall’s Jacobethan Revival style. |[Allen Hall, 1938]. Brigham Young University News Bureau, 1938. BYU Photographs collection (UAP 2 Folder 129). Courtesy of the University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUPhotos/id/398.
","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/e76dcda921fabedf4001fd384ec9cd90.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/e591982914e0322e23d8d1fb473e7165.jpg":{"id":2407,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Inez Knight Allen","description":"A portrait of Inez Knight circa 1900, while she was a missionary in the British Mission. | MS 29515. Ca. 1900. Jean H. Jarvis mission correspondence, 1898–1904. Courtesy of the Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/4f53dec3-1a6b-41ff-8dba-5ed20f96fa47/0/0.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/e591982914e0322e23d8d1fb473e7165.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/7349c481b94bb52b5c99259784cba40e.jpg":{"id":2406,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Sister Knight of the British Mission","description":"Inez Knight is the fifth from the right on the second row, wearing the slightly lighter-colored dress relative to the other three sisters. To the left of Inez is Lucy Jane “Jennie” Brimhall, her missionary companion at the time. | “Manchester Conference, British Mission.” F. Kenworthy, April 24, 1898. Courtesy of the Church History Library (PH 4094), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/378d04f3-2c38-421e-ae58-1d4d6fb09027/0?view=browse.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/7349c481b94bb52b5c99259784cba40e.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/980065967e9bca2ff418c55ef1ec3909.jpg":{"id":2408,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Groundbreaking","description":"A procession of BYU students, arranged by graduating class, on their way to celebrate Allen Hall’s groundbreaking. | [Classes make their way to the groundbreaking of Allen Hall, 1937] (UAP 2 Folder 130). 1937. BYU Photographs collection. Courtesy of the University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUPhotos/id/401/rec/2.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/980065967e9bca2ff418c55ef1ec3909.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/8848eee09ba97822782a9fca3f3c86dc.jpg":{"id":2409,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Brickwork","description":"The color of Allen Hall’s striated bricks, more visible in this color photograph, are an element of the Jacobethan Revival style Joseph Nelson used in his design. | Image 3. n.d. Brigham Young University photographs of Allen Hall (UA 827 box 1 folder 2). Courtesy of the University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUPhotos/id/1014/rec/5.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/8848eee09ba97822782a9fca3f3c86dc.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/ecd3775224d41291295c8c15bef820a8.jpg":{"id":2410,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Residents","description":"These students would have occupied a bit less than half of Allen Hall’s maximum capacity. According to a list of people in the photograph, the woman in the second row was “Sister Gwilliam.” Based on another photograph, she was probably part of Allen Hall’s staff. The residents evidently regarded her fondly enough to want her to join the photograph with them. | Image 1. 1964. Brigham Young University photographs of Allen Hall (UA 827 box 1 folder 2). Courtesy of the University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUPhotos/id/1012/rec/5.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/ecd3775224d41291295c8c15bef820a8.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/b11bcc6e0b94a83360b613f89401e101.jpg":{"id":2411,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Residents","description":"This list most likely names the people photographed in the preceding image. | Image 2. 1964. Brigham Young University photographs of Allen Hall (UA 827 box 1 folder 2). Courtesy of the University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUPhotos/id/1015/rec/5.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/b11bcc6e0b94a83360b613f89401e101.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/ba34e40c005bb1ec15fe95a914f06834.jpg":{"id":2412,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Sister Gwilliam","description":"The woman on the right resembles “Sister Gwilliam” in the 1964 photograph, suggesting Gwilliam was a member of Allen Hall’s staff and worked in the hall’s kitchen. | Image 4. 1956. Brigham Young University photographs of Allen Hall (UA 827 box 1 folder 2). Courtesy of the University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/BYUPhotos/id/1015/rec/5.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/ba34e40c005bb1ec15fe95a914f06834.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/2e1dfc433c06aca54571eb84999d3e94.jpg":{"id":2414,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Museum of Peoples and Cultures","description":"Allen Hall in 2014, when it housed the Museum of Peoples and Cultures (which has since moved to its present location on Canyon Road). Compare this image to the first photograph in the gallery; you can see that a ramp was added to the front door, as well as a sign indicating the museum. | Courtesy of Bridger Talbot. In Talbot, Bridger. “BYU: Allen Hall.” Historic LDS Architecture (blog), December 25, 2014. http://www.ldspioneerarchitecture.blogspot.com/2014/12/byu-allen-hall.html. | Bridger Talbot","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/2e1dfc433c06aca54571eb84999d3e94.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/45572ecc2ba4aeac86d201f2e1c422a3.jpg":{"id":2415,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Museum interior","description":"An interior image of Allen Hall in 2014; note the mix of modern necessities, such as the electric lights and the signage to the left of the restroom, along with the remnants of earlier building styles, such as the door itself. | Courtesy of Bridger Talbot. In Talbot, Bridger. “BYU: Allen Hall.” Historic LDS Architecture (blog), December 25, 2014. http://www.ldspioneerarchitecture.blogspot.com/2014/12/byu-allen-hall.html. | Bridger Talbot","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/45572ecc2ba4aeac86d201f2e1c422a3.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/9e016f5a272cc7c66b10500b8fab1605.jpg":{"id":2413,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"“Goodbye to Allen Hall”","description":"Shared on the Facebook page of BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures, this image is from video footage capturing the process of tearing down Allen Hall in 2018. For the full video, see above on this page. | “Goodbye to Allen Hall.” BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures. Facebook, August 2, 2018. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156341974613046.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/9e016f5a272cc7c66b10500b8fab1605.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/6fbeeb0f5b3490cfca9644f41e8dbfd5.jpg":{"id":2416,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"The empty lot formerly known as Allen Hall","description":"As of 2022, BYU maintains the lot where Allen Hall used to stand but has placed no new structure there. | Contributed by Makoto Hunter, January 1, 2022. | Makoto Hunter","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/6fbeeb0f5b3490cfca9644f41e8dbfd5.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/a5a8d5967b929e4eebfc44e7d7c1aec6.jpg":{"id":2417,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Togetherness","description":"Although Allen Hall has been gone since 2018, evidently people are still able to come together in the space where it used to be. | Contributed by Makoto Hunter, January 1, 2021. | Makoto Hunter","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/a5a8d5967b929e4eebfc44e7d7c1aec6.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/original/8c2752cea7f126e8170d7ff1dcc6181a.mp4":{"id":2419,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"Allen Hall demolition","description":"Shared on the Facebook page of BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures, this image captures the process of tearing down Allen Hall in 2018. | “Goodbye to Allen Hall.” BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures. Facebook, August 2, 2018. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156341974613046."}}}