philanthropy

When you are businessman and philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran, you have a few heavy-hitters in your rolodex, including Millard Fillmore, Jefferson Davis, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, and Daniel Webster. Corcoran rubbed elbows with the well-heeled and well-connected, and was a catalyst for culture and education in Washington D.C. with the building of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and numerous donations to universities.