Utah Sending The Nation’s First Female State Senator To D.C., As A Statue

Utah is sending a new representative to the U.S. Capitol, but it might not be what you think.

The state legislature recently voted to send a statue of a nineteenth-century doctor named Martha Hughes Cannon to represent Utah in Statuary Hall. Each state only gets two statues, so Dr. Cannon will knock Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the television, out of the circle. She’ll join the Mormon leader Brigham Young.

The statue is part of a modest plan to combat Utah’s reputation as behind the curve for women’s advancement. The plan is to trumpet the state’s early history as a leader in women’s rights.