Six hundred American school teachers, Thomasites, arrived in Manila on the USAT Thomas.

The Thomasites were a group of 600 American teachers who traveled from the United States to the newly occupied territory of the Philippines on the US Army Transport Thomas. The group included 346 men and 180 women, hailing from 43 different states and 193 colleges, universities, and normal schools. The term 'Thomasites' has since expanded to include any teacher who arrived in the first few years of the American colonial period of the Philippines.

Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,902,590 people in 2024. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is classified as a highly urbanized city. With 43,611.5 inhabitants per square kilometer (112,953/sq mi), Manila is one of the world's most densely populated cities proper.

USAT Thomas was a United States Army transport ship purchased on 26 July 1898 for Spanish–American War service. Thomas served with the Army Transport Service (ATS) until retired in 1929.