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 and Counseling and an Administrative Certificate in Education from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1970 and 1972, respectively. Wair taught home economics in the East St. Louis School System for 28 years before retiring in 1994. She has been known as the leader of the Little Rock Nine. In 1958, she received the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for outstanding achievement. In 1998, Mothershed-Wair received the Congressional Gold Medal. After Little Rock Nine Since receiving her degrees, Mothershed 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. Wair and her late husband have one son. In 2003 she moved back to the Little Rock area. She received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2016. on the Carbondale campus. Before earning her honorary degree, Mothershed-Wair had earned her bachelor's degree in home economics from SIU in 1964, completed her master's in guidance and counselling with SIUE in 1970 and achieved an administrative certificate in education from this same university in 1972. “Ms. Wair exemplifies and lives SIUE’s values of wisdom, citizenship, integrity, excellence and inclusion,” SIUE Interim Chancellor Stephen Hansen said. “While SIUE provided her with an education, she in turn taught all of us about courage, justice and dignity.”She showed us she was a true hero. Family Thelma Mothershed married Fred Wair on December 26, 1965, and became Thelma Mothershed-Wair. Fred Wair was born on October 6, 1939, and died at age 65 on Wednesday, May 25, 2005, at the River Bluffs Rehab and Nursing Center in Cahokia, Illinois. Thelma and Fred had a single son, Scott Wair. Currently there are no records available on Scott. Scott Wair had two children, Brennan Dallas and