Their enrolment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, then Governor of Arkansas.

[4][5] This group of brave students were tormented, ridiculed, harassed, and even assaulted daily for simply attending what would now be considered a regular public school.

In an attempt to halt the desegregation of this school, a 'lost year' had occurred, leaving some students stranded unless they were able to take extra courses (like Mothershed did).

[8] After graduating in 1964 from SIU, she 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.

[10] Mothershed-Wair moved back to the Little Rock area in 2003,[11] residing in her hometown until her death from complications of multiple sclerosis, on October 19, 2024, at the age of 83.

[1][2] 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.