Little Rock Nine Pioneer Thelma Mothershed Wair Dies at 83
Thelma Mothershed Wair, a key figure in the historic integration of Central High School in 1957, passed away due to complications from multiple sclerosis.
- Thelma Mothershed Wair was one of the nine Black students who courageously integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
- Her integration efforts were met with hostility, as Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus initially used the National Guard to block entry.
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened by deploying the 101st Airborne Division to ensure the students' safe entry into the school.
- Mothershed Wair later pursued a successful career in education, working as a teacher and counselor in Illinois before retiring in 1994.
- She and the other members of the Little Rock Nine were awarded Congressional Gold Medals, which they donated to the Clinton Presidential Library.
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