William Wilson Corcoran (December 27, 1798 – 1888) was a student of Georgetown College, a banker, and philanthropist. He attended Georgetown for only one year and is listed in alumni publications as a member of the class of 1811. In May 1880 Corcoran was elected the first president of the Alumni Association.1
Early life and career
Corcoran was born in Georgetown on December 27, 1798 to an Irish father, Thomas Corcoran. Thomas Corcoran served as mayor of Georgetown for seven years before it was abolished as a separate municipality.
William Corcoran attended private schools until the age of twelve, when he began studying languages under Rev. William Allen. After one year he entered Georgetown College and remained there for a year before again studying with a private teacher. At age seventeen he became a dry goods clerk in a store belonging to his brothers, Thomas and James. At age nineteen he established his own dry goods store. He later moved from Georgetown to Washington, where he became a banker. Along with George W. Riggs, he formed the company Riggs & Corcoran, which purchased the old United States Bank building in 1844. During the Mexican-American War (1846 – 1848), Riggs & Corcoran gave several loans to the U.S. government, which were considered highly risky at the time. Riggs withdrew from the firm, but Corcoran gained a large profit from the loans that became the foundation of his fortune.
Personal life and later career
In 1835, Corcoran married Louise Armory Morris (? - 1840), with whom he had a son and a daughter. The son died in childhood while the daughter, also named Louise, lived to adulthood and married U.S. Congressman from Louisiana George Eustis. She died in 1867 in Cannes, France.
Corcoran retired from banking in 1854 and spent the rest of his life as a philanthropist. He was instrumental in founding Oak Hill Cemetery (where he is buried), the Louise Home for impoverished gentlewomen, and the Corcoran Art Gallery. In total he gave over $5 million to these and other institutions including colleges, churches, and charities. When the Corcoran Art Gallery closed in 2014, it's holdings were distributed amongst various institutions in the DC area, including Georgetown University.2 In 2018, 85 works of art were gifted to Georgetown University and currently reside in the Georgetown University Art Collection located in the Booth Family Center for Special Collections.3
On May 26, 1880, the second meeting of the Alumni Association was held at Corcoran's home, where the Association's constitution was formally adopted.4
Depictions on campus
Corcoran is depicted in the northernmost bay window of Copley Hall, representing the field of art.5
- 1"The Alumni Meeting," Georgetown College Journal, July 1881, Vol. IX No. 10, p. 110. http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1044342
- 2James S. Easby-Smith, Georgetown University in the District of Columbia, 1789-1907, its founders, benefactors, officers, instructors and alumni. Vol. 2, New York: Lewis, 1907, pp. 175 - 176. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433076015860?urlappend=%3Bseq=191
- 3"Corcoran Gallery of Art Donation", 2019: https://library.georgetown.edu/news/corcoran-gallery-art-donation
- 4"The Alumni Association," Georgetown College Journal, June 1880, Vol. 8 No. 8, p. 88. http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1044331
- 5Francis X. Ballman, "Copley Hall," Building Outlines Campus Buildings, 1789 – 1995, Father Lawrence Hurley Memorial Edition, Francis X. Ballmann and the Division of Facilities, 1995, p. 10.
