In 1957, she was one of the black students who became known as the Little Rock Nine after they were sent to integrate Central High School. Their attempt to simply go to school was met with a mob of threatening segregationists and the opposition of Gov. Orval Faubus, who sent the National Guard to block them from enrolling. This was three years after the Supreme Court declared segregated classrooms unconstitutional. 

It took Republican President Dwight Eisenhower sending members of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort them into school on Sept. 25, 1957, to break the opposition. The students continued to be the target of harassment such as name-calling, but fortunately, they never faced any violence.

Wair went on to get a master’s degree in counseling and have a long and distinguished career as a teacher and counselor. She and the rest of the Little Rock Nine received the Congressional Gold Medal. You can read more about her incredible life at this link.

https://apnews.com/article/thelma-mothershed-wair-little-rock-nine-215186ffd2c05e086ffdccc1abdc6a07?user_email=96562a2b65b5be1731792b0833af1a087ac7be3efc5eedfd38326ff8407c26fd

And from the Wayback Machine, here’s the speech I gave at Central High School on the 50^th anniversary of its integration.