Thelma Mothershed Wair, the iconic member of the Little Rock Nine who helped integrate an Arkansas high school in 1957 despite opposition from white protesters, has died at the age of 83.
Mothershed Wair was born on Nov. 29, 1940, in Bloomberg, Texas. Her sister, Grace Davis, confirmed that she died at a Little Rock hospital Sunday due to complications from multiple sclerosis, The Associated Press and KARK reported.
Mothershed Wair was the eldest of the Little Rock Nine. She and eight other students — Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Melba Pattillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls — integrated Central High School in Little Rock in September 1957.
Despite Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus deploying the National Guard to block their enrollment following the U.S. Supreme Court’s desegregation ruling, the students pressed on. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by sending the Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort them into the school on Sept. 25, 1957, per AP. Their story became an integral part of history, as the children became the first African American students to end school desegregation.
While Mothershed Wair had to finish classes out of state, she accumulated the necessary credits and earned her high school diploma at Central High School.
KARK reported that Mothershed Wair and the rest of the Little Rock Nine members were awarded the nation’s highest civilian award and a Congressional Gold Medal by former president and Arkansas governor Bill Clinton in 1999.
As Blavity reported, Paul McCartney penned The Beatles’ “Blackbird” as a tribute to the Little Rock Nine and other Black women who were part of the Civil Rights Movement.
“While we mourn the transition of Thelma Mothershed Wair, we also pay tribute to her lasting legacy, seen in generations of Americans empowered by her courage and perseverance,” Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said of Mothershed Wair’s passing, per KARK. “She and fellow members of the Little Rock Nine set us on a better path that altered the course of history in our City and nation forever. As a successful educator, author and advocate, she lived a life we lift up today upon her passing. Our prayers and support are with her loved ones at this difficult time.”
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