In 2021, Mississippi State University celebrated the 50th anniversary of the construction of Allen Hall.
The construction cost around $2.8 million to complete, and the building opened during the 1972 fall semester.
Standing six stories tall, Allen Hall is distinguishable from the rest of the buildings on campus with its stone gray and rocky exterior. The inside consists of classrooms and lecture halls; however, this was not always the case.
At first, Allen Hall was mainly used as an executive building that housed offices for various departments including the vice president’s and president’s offices. Gaddis Hunt, former vice president of business affairs at MSU, recalled Allen Hall’s earliest days.
“It was a major administrative building. Along with the president and vice president, offices for finances, the College of Education, math, arts, sciences and a lot of other departments were located there,” Hunt said. “It was just full of administration and classrooms. You could go into that one building and get most of what you needed done in there.”
Out of those, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics is the only entity remaining in Allen Hall today because the other departments have been relocated across campus. The old office spaces have been remade into classrooms and accommodate a variety of different subjects. These changes have turned Allen Hall into a staple at MSU since, according to campus tour guides, most students have at least one class there during their tenure on campus.
Allen Hall is named after Henry Edward “Slim” Allen. Allen was exceptionally busy during his high school years. He graduated at 21 due to the number of jobs he worked.
After receiving a full scholarship to MSU, Allen majored in business and made money through a jewelry shop and newspaper company he established in his dorm.
His graduation from MSU was only the beginning of his career as a salesperson.
According to a plaque in the building, Allen wanted to give back to his old university and honor his daughter, so he donated $100,000 for the new administrative building being constructed on campus.
Allen passed away in 1966, but he is still remembered by those who knew him.
Charlie Weatherly, former alumni director, knew Allen during the student’s time on campus. Weatherly attributed Allen’s nickname, ‘Slim’, to his tall and skinny frame.
“He was also very well known by everyone on campus because he had the rights to the class ring business on campus. So, he was around a lot,” Weatherly said. “I would see him pretty regularly around the offices, and he was quite the character who was well known for throwing dice at Old Main, which was a dorm hall at the time.”
Weatherly said the site where Allen Hall looks completely different than it did in the 1970s. He said he remembered Allen Hall standing alone instead of being surrounded by other academic buildings.
Roy Ruby, former vice president for student affairs, offered his opinions on the building.
“I definitely think it is a functional building in terms of classrooms and offices,” Ruby said. “While I don’t think it is particularly a beautiful building compared to the other buildings on campus, I think it is more of a practical building for the many classrooms inside the building.”
Former Vice President of Business Affairs Hunt agreed with the general practicality of Allen Hall. Hunt said the university needed a large number of general assignment classrooms that did not belong to a particular department, and Allen Hall satisfies those needs. 
Henry “Slim” Allen’s namesake is still in use today on MSU’s campus and continues to house multiple academic departments.