Kristine Nolan learns more about history makers such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X at school during Black History Month each year, but she has never been in the presence of one of those history-makers.

SIUC alumna Thelma Mothershed Wair stood before Nolan, an eighth-grader, and the entire Murphysboro Middle School as part of Black History Month on Friday to tell them how she made history while in high school.

In 1957 the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed school segregation, and Wair became one of nine black students to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.

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Everyday the Little Rock Nine were greeted by heated, red-faced parents and students throwing acid, spit wads and endless kicking, but Wair continued to attend Central High School to make the situation better for the future.

I never really cried, but sometimes I went to school with a lump in my throat, Wair said. I knew if I didn’t do it then the other kids would have to start all over again.

Wair graduated from SIUC in 1964 with a bachelor’s in home economics. She is now a retired home economics teacher and works part-time for a homeless shelter in East St. Louis.

Wair’s story struck Nolan as a surprise. She would have never known about the struggle it was for blacks to go to school with whites.

To tell the truth, I knew about her, but I didn’t know about all the things she went through, Nolan said. She’s like a hero to me. If it wasn’t for her and the other eight people, we’ll still be separate right now.

I think it’s great. We are learning about our history, and we are getting it from someone who was actually a part of history.

Wair was a bit surprised, but delighted at students’ eagerness to learn more about their history.

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A lot of young folks say, I don’t want to know about that old stuff. That was a long time ago.’ But it was not that long ago. It seems like it was just like yesterday.

I think they should have started desegregation a lot sooner. They should have started it in elementary education because elementary school kids are more forgiving. By the time students get in high school, their mind is already made up if they’re going to hate somebody or not.

Glenda Cawthon, social worker for Murphysboro Middle School, helped organize the event for the students to learn the importance of education and how people before them struggled to get it.

These days kids don’t know anything about Little Rock Nine, she said. It was a time when whites and blacks didn’t go to school together. Hopefully, it will enlighten them that these people went through something and they will think, That was for me.’

It was an act of courage that not only changed African-American children’s lives, but all children’s lives. [The Little Rock Nine] gave me the opportunity to be where I am today.

Wair said students should always appreciate their right to go to school because in the past it was not as easily accessible.

To me education was always the ultimate, Wair said. I wanted that education.

Hopefully, the students will realize the importance of education. Some don’t think education is important. It’s just required by law. But, you’ll never hold a good job without any education.