LITTLE ROCK, Ark- The loss of Little Rock Nine member Thelma Mothershed-Wair is a major one in the capital city. She was 83 years old, and people in the community remember vividly the start of the Little Rock Nine’s journey to de-segregating Central High School.

In 1957, Mrs. Mothershed Wair and eight other Black students enrolled at Little Rock Central High School. They faced racist mobs and were escorted by federal troops.

Thelma Mothershed Wair, one of the nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas’ capital city of Little Rock in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults, has died at age 83.

Mothershed Wair was one of nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults.

Many are mourning the loss of an Arkansan who inspired change for the better and changed African-American education across the nation.

Members of the Little Rock Nine, standing from left, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Terrence Roberts, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, and foreground seated, Th