Thelma Mothershed-Wair
Encyclopedia
Thelma Mothershed-Wair is a member of the Little Rock Nine
.
Wair was born in Bloomburg, Texas
and is the daughter of Arlevia and Hosanna Claire Mothershed of Little Rock. She attended Dunbar Junior High and Horace Mann High schools and despite daily torment from white students at Central, she completed her junior year at the formerly all-white high school during the tumultuous 1957–58 year. Because the city’s high schools were closed the following year, in order to earn the necessary credits for graduation she took correspondence courses and attended summer school
in St. Louis, Missouri
. She received her diploma from Central High School by mail. Wair graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 1964 and earned her Master's degree in Guidance & Counseling and an Administrative Certificate in Education from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville in 1970 and 1985, respectively. Wair taught home economics in the East St. Louis School System for 28 years before retiring in 1994.
Since then she has worked at the St. Clair County Jail, Juvenile Detention Center in St. Clair County, Illinois, and as an Instructor of Survival Skills for Women at the American Red Cross Second Chance Shelter for the Homeless. During the 1989–90 school year she was honored as an Outstanding Role Model by the East St. Louis Chapter of the Top Ladies of Distinction and the Early Childhood-Pre Kindergarten staff of District 189. She also received the National Humanitarian Award, the highest award given at the 2005 National Convention of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. held in Chicago, IL. Wair and her late husband have one son. In 2003 she moved back to the Little Rock area.
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then...
.
Wair was born in Bloomburg, Texas
Bloomburg, Texas
Bloomburg is a town in Cass County, Texas, United States. The population was 375 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bloomburg is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
and is the daughter of Arlevia and Hosanna Claire Mothershed of Little Rock. She attended Dunbar Junior High and Horace Mann High schools and despite daily torment from white students at Central, she completed her junior year at the formerly all-white high school during the tumultuous 1957–58 year. Because the city’s high schools were closed the following year, in order to earn the necessary credits for graduation she took correspondence courses and attended summer school
Summer school
Summer school is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, that teaches students during the summer vacation....
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. She received her diploma from Central High School by mail. Wair graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 1964 and earned her Master's degree in Guidance & Counseling and an Administrative Certificate in Education from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville in 1970 and 1985, respectively. Wair taught home economics in the East St. Louis School System for 28 years before retiring in 1994.
Since then she has worked at the St. Clair County Jail, Juvenile Detention Center in St. Clair County, Illinois, and as an Instructor of Survival Skills for Women at the American Red Cross Second Chance Shelter for the Homeless. During the 1989–90 school year she was honored as an Outstanding Role Model by the East St. Louis Chapter of the Top Ladies of Distinction and the Early Childhood-Pre Kindergarten staff of District 189. She also received the National Humanitarian Award, the highest award given at the 2005 National Convention of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. held in Chicago, IL. Wair and her late husband have one son. In 2003 she moved back to the Little Rock area.