LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Thelma Mothershed-Wair, the eldest member of the Little Rock Nine passed away on Saturday. Mothershed-Wair was born on November 29, 1940, in Bloomberg, Texas and became a national hero as one of nine African American students involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

FILE - Thelma Mothershed Wair seated on the bench that bears her name at Little Rock Central High School's 49th anniversary celebration of its integration on Sept. 25, 2006 as they dedicated memorial benches around the reflecting pool that carry the names of the nine black students. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEVE KEESEE)

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.

SummaryOne of the nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas' capital city in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults at them has died at age 83. Thelma

Thelma Mothershed Wair, one of the nine Black students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, has passed away at the age of 83. She died in Little Rock due to complications from multiple sclerosis,

Mothershed Wair died Saturday at a hospital in Little Rock after having complications from multiple sclerosis, her sister, Grace Davis, confirmed Sunday to The. The students who integrated Central High School were known as the Little Rock Nine.

One of the nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas’ capital city in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults at them has