Manhattan College was founded as the Academy of the Holy Infancy in 1853 by five French De La Salle Christian Brothers in a small building on Canal Street. When the need to expand forced them from Lower Manhattan, the college moved to 131st Street and Broadway, in the Manhattanville section of Harlem. The school's name was changed to Manhattan College in 1863, and moved to its present location in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in 1922 as it outgrew its facilities in Manhattanville. Manhattan College is an independent Catholic institution of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions.
