[5] In time Mrs. Corrigan gained a reputation for her lavish parties, joining the ranks of other prominent society hostesses of American origin like Emerald Cunard, Elsa Maxwell, and Nancy Astor.
[11] When war broke out between France and Germany in September 1939, Corrigan chose to remain in Paris as a neutral American citizen at the Ritz Hotel, where she had long maintained a suite.
She founded an aid group for Allied servicemen called "La Bienvenue" and cultivated high-ranking Nazi officials in Paris, including Hermann Goering.
After France was invaded by Germany in 1940, Corrigan moved to the unoccupied Vichy, where she became known as the "American Angel" for helping to fund the French Resistance and aid refugees.
[12][13][5] Her income was reduced to only $500 a month by the State Department as part of wartime controls on the movement of money overseas, so she sold her furniture, jewelry, and other valuables in order to continue funding her refugee and resistance activities.