Coya Come Home: Minnesota's first congresswoman
May 3, 2004 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson profiles Coya Knutson, the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota.
In May 1954, Coya Knutson stepped to a podium in Moorhead to announce she was running for Congress. Then, in November 1954, Knutson became the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota. Congresswoman Knutson made a splash in Washington with her plainspoken politics and persuasive personality. But she also challenged the leadership of the newly formed Minnesota DFL party.