MARQUETTE — A piece of national legislation sponsored by Michigan’s two senators is renaming a Baraga County post office after Cora Reynolds Anderson, the first Native American woman to serve in a state legislature and the first woman elected to the Michigan House of Representatives.

The legislation has designated the post office as “Cora Reynolds Anderson Post Office” after a bill authored by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

“As the first Native American woman to serve in any state legislature, Cora Reynolds Anderson remains a vital part of our state’s and our nation’s history,” Peters said in a press release. “Throughout her career, she improved the lives of people all across the Upper Peninsula. Naming this post office in Baraga County after this trailblazer will help cement her legacy as a dedicated leader and public servant.”

Reynolds was a member of the Ojibwa tribe and was born in L’Anse in 1882 and was elected to serve in the Michigan House of Representatives in 1925. She chaired the Industrial Home for Girls Committee as well as serving on the committees for Agriculture, Insurance and the Northern State Normal School.

She also fought to recognize Native American fishing rights and worked to combat the tuberculosis epidemic and alcoholism in the state. Reynolds passed away in 1950 and was recognized in 2001 by being inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

“Cora Reynolds Anderson is such an important part of Michigan’s history,” Stabenow said. “As the first woman elected to the Michigan House of Representatives — and the first Native American woman to serve in any state legislature — she paved the way for so many women, including me, to hold public office. Naming this post office in the county she represented after her is one special way that Michiganders can honor and remember her for generations to come.”

The post office is located at 404 U.S. 41 N. in Baraga County.