The building originally opened in 1904 as public baths and was subsequently renovated and expanded, later housing other entities including a wet wash laundry, medical centers, and a nursing school.

In 1902, it was announced that the philanthropist Elizabeth Milbank Anderson had purchased a plot of land measuring 50 by 98.9 feet (15.2 by 30.1 m) at 225 to 227 East 38th Street that would be used for the construction of public baths to be donated to the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (AICP).

[7][8][9] Rich had previously designed other projects for the Anderson family in New York City, including Milbank Hall at Barnard College and Bryant Park Studios.

[19] The property was acquired from the AICP by the Milbank Memorial Fund, which renovated the building and expanded it to five floors to serve as a model health center with clinics for dentistry, infant welfare, social hygiene, and tuberculosis.

[24][25] The institute remained at the location until January 1951, when its new facility opened at First Avenue and East 34th Street, the first building to be completed in the development of the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center.

[28][29] In 1969, Skidmore College announced that it had leased the building to house its Irene Ward McClellan Department of Nursing, which was previously located in Fahnestock Hall at 304 East 20th Street.

The interior of the building was remodeled to include the addition of a mezzanine floor and was designed to accommodate residences for 86 students in their sophomore and junior years.

[30][31][32] The college purchased the building a few years later with financing from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, but decided in 1982 to close its nursing program due to declining enrollment.