BLOOMBERG, Texas (KTAL/KMSS)—A civil rights trailblazer born near the corners that connect Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas has died, but her legacy will inspire humanity for generations to come. Thelma Mothershed Wair gained nationwide fame as a child, when she became a Little Rock Nine member and helped desegregate Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Wair suffered from a congenital heart condition, yet she had near-perfect attendance at Central High. In Sept. 1958, when Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus invoked a new state law to halt desegregation, Central High was closed, and Wair earned the credits she needed to graduate from high school through correspondence courses. She later received her Central High School diploma. Hidden history: Helen Keller was an equal rights advocate Wair then attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and graduated with a degree in Home Economics Education. She obtained her master's in Guidance and Counseling from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. She also earned an Administrative Certificate in Education. Wair spent 28 years teaching home economics and counseling elementary students in the East St. Louis school system. When she retired in 1994, she made a tremendous difference inside and outside the classroom. Ephriam David Tyler: Shreveport civil rights poet born in 1884 In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Outstanding Role Model award from the East St. Louis Chapter of the Top Ladies of Distinction, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, and the Congressional Gold Medal. She also co-authored Education has No Color with Richard J. Hansen, which spoke of her experiences at Central High and her belief in the power of education to transform lives. Born in the ArkLaTex, specifically in Bloomberg, Texas, on Nov. 29, 1940, Wair lived an incredible life and left for her eternal home on Oct. 19, 2024. She was 83.