Thelma Mothershed Wair was the oldest of the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, prompting one of the most important civil rights clashes in American history.
- Died: October 19, 2024 (Who else died on October 19?)
- Details of death: Died in Little Rock, Arkansas of complications from multiple sclerosis at the age of 83.
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Thelma Mothershed-Wair’s legacy
Born in Bloomburg, Texas, but raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Mothershed Wair became one of the nine Black students selected to integrate Little Rock Central High School following the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Despite facing intense opposition, hostile protests, and violent threats to their safety, she and her peers ran a gauntlet of hate to enter their new school in 1957, protected by federal troops sent by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The other students facing the violent confrontations with Mothershed Wair were Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Melba Pattillo Beals, and Ernest Green, who was the first among them to graduate.
Though her time at Central High was often isolating, she completed her junior year in 1958, earning her diploma through correspondence courses when the Little Rock schools were closed the following year. Mothershed Wair went on to earn a B.A. in home economics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1964, then an M.A. in guidance and counseling from SIU Edwardsville, followed by an administrative certificate in education. In 1965, she married Fred Wair. She taught home economics and served as a guidance counselor in East St. Louis schools for 28 years before retiring in 1994.
In 1998, Mothershed-Wair and her fellow members of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States, acknowledging their pivotal role in the civil rights movement. She also was given the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a National Humanitarian Award from Top Ladies of Distinction, and an honorary doctorate from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, among other honors.
In 2016, Paul McCartney of The Beatles cited Mothershed Wair as one of the inspirations for his now-classic 1968 song, “Blackbird.”
Tributes to Thelma Mothershed Wair
Full obituary: Arkansas Democrat Gazette
