[1] She descended from a family of writers, thinkers and educators; both her parents, Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal and Salomé Ureña, as well as her brothers Pedro and Max, were literary luminaries.
She was the fourth child and only daughter of prominent intellectuals, the former Dominican President, Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal, and the poet and educator, Salomé Ureña.
[6] At the same university, she became a Doctor in Pedagogy; her dissertation, "The pedagogical ideas of Eugenio María de Hostos", centered on the Puerto Rican educator who was a mentor to Henríquez's mother.
[6] In 1941, she lectured in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico, and served as a delegate to the Conference General Federation of University Women.
She served as technical adviser to the Ministry of Education (1960-1962),[1] and participated in the restructuring of the University of Havana, where she taught until her retirement in 1970.