All it took was persistence of one man. Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty arrived in January 1904 to become the first American Archbishop of Manila. He arrived in Manila during a time where strong anti-friar sentiments, mainly due to the aftermath of the Philippine Revolution, were causing the established Catholic institutions to lose ground their secular counterparts. Archbishop Harty maintained a passionate belief in Christian education. It was his ardent desire to establish a school that would provide young boys with a solid Catholic Education and at the same time teaches them the English Language.

The American Archbishop was once a student of the Christian Brothers in St. Louis Missouri and he had a greatest admiration for the type of education that the Brothers of the Christian Schools had to offer. In his heart he knew that the Christian Brothers could give such education. In a letter dated May 7, 1904, he requested Br. Clementian, then Superior General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, to open a school in the Philippines.

By chance, Br. Abdon Edward (Glenn) happened to arrive in Manila aboard the U.S.S. Logan on December 29, 1904. Br. Edward was Vice President of Manhattan College in New York City and had been in-charge of several La Salle schools in the United States and Europe. He is considered the first La Salle Brother to ever set foot in the Philippines. Br. Edward, however, did not come to the Philippines on official business. He had been prescribed by his doctor to take a long voyage at sea to treat his lung ailment.

Archbishop Harty met with Br. Edward to discuss the growing crisis of Catholic schools in the country. Though the arguments were strong, Br. Edward could only write to his superiors and pass on the Archbishop's request.

Archbishop Harty's request was forwarded to the Far East Province of the Brothers, based in Singapore. Br. Gabriel Archange, Provincial of the Far East together with Br. Aciselus Michael (who will later prove to play an important role in the development of De La Salle College) sailed for Manila on November 1, 1905, to study the feasibility of the foundation. The two Brothers met with Archbishop Harty and other school officials. While the Brothers recognized the pressing need for a school in the Philippines, they could not accept the Archbishop's proposal due to the lack of funds.

This initial rejection did not weaken Archbishop Harty's resolve. His correspondence with the Brothers continued. In 1906, en route to an appointment in Rome, the Archbishop stopped by Singapore. He visited St. Joseph's College and declared that this is the type of campus he wanted in Manila— except that the Brothers be American. Once he arrived in Rome, he already had another proposal ready that he had sent to the Superior General in France.

This brought about the second visit of Br. Gabriel to the Philippines accompanied this time by Brother Christian Edward, Principal of the St. Benedict's College in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri-Lanka). The prospect of opening the school looked promising, for the Archbishop was expecting some funds from the United States. Unfortunately, the funds never arrived. Though frustrated with all these setbacks, Archbishop Harty would not give up. Towards the end of 1907, he went back to Rome and sought a private audience with Pope Pius X to personally present to him the pressing need for a Brothers' school in the Philippines. The benevolent pontiff sympathized with Archbishop Harty's pleas and made the formal request, amounting to a command, to the Christian Brothers to finally accommodate his request.

With a Papal mandate, the Superiors dispatched an envoy to the Philippines to make final arrangements for the Brothers to come to the Philippines. Br. Adolfo Alfredo, Director of Barcelona School in Spain arrived in Manila in early 1910. Together with the Archbishop, they sought a location in which the Brothers would set up a school. Their first stop was to an abandoned college building in Cavite, some 30 kilometers from Manila. Br. Adolfo gently insisted that the school be in the city proper. They then drove to the northern district to an old hospital. This, too, was disapproved. Their next option was a business office in Ermita. But it was too small and lacked living quarters for teachers. The Archbishop offered the Brothers to live with him in the Episcopal Palace. But upon further reflection, both agreed that the setup would be impractical.

On the last day, they ventured towards Paco. Inside the suburb was a wood-and-adobe house in a 13,000-square meter property which was "coolly shaded with trees", with graded lawns, an open pavilion, and the main building dominated with balcony, from the flowering vines were gaily strung. The house, formerly a private school for the American children, was run-down and needed repairs. But the house proved to be acceptable to Br. Adolfo and on February 10, 1910, the house and lot at 417 Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila was purchased and became the first campus.

On March 10, 1911, the three Founding Brothers arrive in Manila via Europe. Brs. Blimond Pierre (Eilenbecker), Aloysius Gonzaga (McGiverin) and Augusto Correge became guests of Archbishop Harty. They stayed with the Archbishop for a month before moving into the house on Nozaleda on April 3, 1911 to start renovations. There was much that needed to be fixed. The family-style house, large on its own terms, was not designed to be a school. The window and room layouts, which were limited in both light and ventilation, were not suitable for large classes. The sanitation system was inadequate and there was no drainage system. The building fabric, roof and walls had been damaged over time. The once landscaped grounds were overgrown with cogon grass and was severely potholed.

In two months time, on May 13, the six remaining Brothers of the Founding Community arrive in Manila. They were Br. Ptolomee Louis (Duffaux), Br. Goslin Camillus (Henri), Br. D. Joseph, Br. Celba John (Lynam), Br. Imar William (Reale) and Br. Martin.

Even with such unfavorable conditions, the first Brothers were undeterred. Early reports indicate that they had adjusted quickly to their new home. While they had no private rooms and were forced to work long hours, they cheerfully accepted the task at hand. The mansion stables were converted into student dining hall. The grounds were cleared and leveled, and a drainage system was secured. The First Brothers Community was now ready to start its first class.

De La Salle College officially opened its doors to 125 youngsters on June 16, 1911. By July 10, the total number to students reached 175. Forty were boarding students, while those who took a mid-day meal on campus were termed half-boarders. Br. Blimond Pierre, a native of France, became the first head of the college on the basis of his skills and past accomplishments.

While St. John Baptist de La Salle founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools to teach the poor, the first Brothers of the Philippines, sent by Papal encouragement, were invited to teach the rich, principally because there was no other way to finance the school. They were strongly advised to accept the upperclass children who needed good moral and spiritual training. At this time, De La Salle College was the only college on the whole country completely staffed with Brothers almost all of whom spoke English.

The school on Nozaleda taught the basics of education— Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. It also taught catechism, something the public schools did not offer. The first basketball team was organized in 1911. On December 17, 1911, 40 students had their First Holy Communion celebrated by the Archbishop himself. Towards the end of the school year, on February 12, 1912, De La Salle College's papers of incorporation were drawn up and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The young men who came to enroll in the school were described by Archbishop Harty as "the cream of the crop" in the City of Manila. To him, the lads of La Salle were his boys of whom he was very proud.

In March of 1912, the health of the community's first Director, Br. Blimond was failing. An American surgeon reported that Br. Blimond had an intestinal infection (later discovered to be cancer). He shrugged off the pain and continued his office during the summer months.

Around this time, four more Brothers arrived to teach in Manila in response to Br. Blimond's request for more Brothers to handle the increased teaching load. There were two Frenchmen: Br. Wilfrid of St. Joseph's Institution in Hong Kong and Br. Basilian (Coin) from St. Paul's Institution in Seremban, Malaysia; and two Irishmen: Br. Dorotheus Joseph and Br. Egbert Xavier, one of the younger Brothers to volunteer to the missions. All of them were from the Penang District which the Philippines was under.

By the end of vacation period, Br. Blimond's condition had worsened. He was ordered back to Europe and, at the end of May 1912, sailed for his native France. Sadly, Br. Blimond Pierre died a few months later on December 5, 1912.

Br. Goslin Camillus succeded Br. Blimond as Director in June 1912. More than 200 students had enrolled at the start of the new school year. The Brothers were not able to accept any more students due to the lack of space and personnel and thus, had to refuse admittance to boarders. By the same time, the following year, there were 265 students of which 192 were half-boarders. Archbishop Harty continued to show support to the school, often visiting to give out honor awards or give Sunday sermons.

On November 21, 1914, the faculty was increased by the arrival of Brs. Donatian Felix (Dennis), a Burmese Native– the first Asian Brother to serve in the Philippines, and Alexis from Mandalay, and Br. Anthony Ferdinand (Kilbourne) from New York. The reputation of the Brothers for conducting a fine educational institution was spreading throughout the country.

At the start of the school year in 1915, Br. Aciselus Michael (Naughter, somtetimes spelled Noctor) returned to the Philippines to assume the role of Director. Br. Michael was one of the two Brothers who assessed the feasibility of a school in Manila a decade earlier. 1915 also saw the first high school graduates of De La Salle College, who were Antonio Ossorio, William Reich and Deogracias Tan.

It was also in 1915 when the first lay teacher, Mr. Juan Medrano, joined the College faculty as an elementary school teacher. He was introduced into the true Lasallian pedagogy which will stay with him all his life. He was trained as a teacher under the tradition of the early La Salle system. He will stay in La Salle until his retirement in 1967.

With the increasing population of both faculty and staff, the Nozaleda campus was proving to be very limiting. The boarding department had to be closed for lack of space and to relieve the overworked staff. If the Brothers wanted to expand, the only alternative is transfer the school to a bigger location. Br. Michael started to lay the groundwork for a new De La Salle. He toured all possible sites, estimating cost and advantages, but soon decided to pursue the open fields south of Manila that Br. Camillus had been unsuccessful to acquire due to the lack of funds during his time as Director. Through a loan from Singapore, Br. Michael was able to purchase a 30,300 square meter property on what would later be called Taft Avenue within his first year as Director.

With the location of the new campus secured, but without capital for construction, Br. Michael announced an architectural competition for the finest college design with the price of Php5,000. Out of ten entries, the concept of Architect Tomas Mapua was chosen. This choice would prove to be nothing short of genius, for Architect Mapua's design would be featured in the 2007 book titled "1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die: The World's Architectural Masterpieces".

In June 1916, Archbishop Harty was notified of his transfer to Omaha. He will always be remembered as the first benefactor of the College. Monsignor Michael J. O' Doherty was installed as the new Archbishop of Manila. On August 17 of the same year, Br. Michael sent out a circular to the former students of the Brothers, including those who had studied in other Brothers' schools outside the Philippines. The purpose was to stimulate interest and seek support for the College. The De La Salle Alumni Association was born.

Providence continued to bestow good fortune to the College. On November 11, 1917, the Superintendent of Private Schools, Mr. H. O'Malley called the College on behalf of Governor General Francis Butron Harrison. He presented a charter authorizing the College to confer degrees to its graduates. Upon receiving the Charter, a regular High School was established embracing all sciences and requiring four years to complete replacing the three-year commercial High School. College courses with Liberal Arts degrees were also started.

De La Salle College was also excelling in sports, which is something La Salle will be known for in years to come. In 1917, Virgilio Lobregat became the greatest all-around athlete produced by the school. He excelled in softball, basketball, soccer and track & field. He was the overall city champion in the decathlon and pentathlon. Lobregat also became the permanent possessor of the Heacock Trophy. Br. Celba John had been athletic moderator since 1911.

In January 1919, two volunteer Brothers arrived in Manila: Brs. Albinus Peter and Flavius Leo. Br. Peter was installed as President to succeed Br. Michael, who left for the United States, in May of that year. He faced the dual responsibilities of supervising the construction at Taft and administering the final terms in Paco. The lack of sufficient funds caused delays and periodic stop-overs in the construction of the Taft campus. There were many suggestions to revise the original designt o fit the budget, but Br. Peter would refuse to alter anything. Through the intervention of Brother Assistant Thomas, the loans from the Penang District were extended and further sums were borrowed locally. The final documents on the property boundaries were signed and the first building materials were purchased.

A non-degree college course in Commerce was also established on approval by the insular government. A new Brother from America, Br. Vidoneus Andrew, was asked to take charge of the new department. He arrived in Manila on July 27, 1919. He immediately prescribed the textbooks needed, ordered suitable equipment and bought 12 Underwood and three Royal typewriters for the dozen students who enrolled.

On the 3rd of March, 1920, the entire student body traveled one and half kilometers to Singalong for the ground breaking ceremony. It was an informal affair, with students larking about and a few dignitaries on hand, but it was recalled as the symbol of irrevocable change. A few days later on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, the Nozaleda campus was sold to Vicente Madrigal with the provision that the College would retain use of the premises for 18 months. The final school year at Paco opened with 417 students crammed into the old building, while all the attention was focused on the new construction in the south suburbs.