Thelma Mothershed Wair, one of the nine Black students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, has passed away at the age of 83. She died in Little Rock due to complications from multiple sclerosis, as confirmed by her sister, Grace Davis.
The Little Rock Nine, as they were known, faced significant opposition, with Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus using the National Guard to prevent their enrollment despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against segregated classrooms. President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened by sending the 101st Airborne Division to escort the students into the school.
Grace Davis recounted that while there were racial incidents, her sister did not face physical harm during integration. After Faubus closed Little Rock schools in 1958 to impede further integration, Mothershed Wair completed her high school education out of state but received her diploma from Central High School.
Despite being born with a congenital heart defect, she lived a full life, earning a bachelor’s degree in home economics education and a master’s in guidance and counseling from Southern Illinois University.
Mothershed Wair married Fred Wair in 1965, with whom she had one son, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. After her husband’s death in 2005, she returned to Little Rock. Her career included roles as a home economics teacher and counselor in Illinois, and she also worked at the St. Clair County Jail and the American Red Cross.
The Little Rock Nine were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal, which they donated to the Clinton Presidential Library in 2011.
