Few statehouses feature memorials to actual historical women

(AP) Ohio's Statehouse would join a small number of others around the country with outdoor monuments dedicated to real women in U.S. history under a proposal to create a memorial to Ohio women who fought for voting rights. Connecticut's Statehouse features a statue of former Gov. Ella Grasso, the state's first female governor elected in her own right, while Utah has a statue of Martha Hughes Cannon, the country's first female state senator. A statue of Esther Hobart Morris, Wyoming's first female justice of the peace, stood for years in front of the state Capitol but was moved inside after last year's renovation. In Hawaii, the Capitol features a statue of Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Arkansas Capitol has a statue featuring the Little Rock Nine, the black students who integrated Central High School, six of whom were girls. Arkansas and Mississippi also have monuments to Confederate women featuring figurative representations. Minnesota has a memorial to women's suffrage that honors 25 women who fought for voting rights, with an expansive garden that includes their names but no statues. Lisa Benton-Short, a geography professor at George Washington University, said the country hasn't done a great job honoring all the people who contributed to what it means to be American. "There's a lot of our story that's missing, and it's missing from those key spaces,'' she said.