Paul McCartney Meets Brave Women Behind the Inspiration for Beatle's 'Blackbird'

History met history Saturday night backstage at the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AZ as Paul McCartney met Mrs. Thelma Mothershed Wair and Ms. Elizabeth Eckford of the Little Rock Nine.

As young students who struggled against segregation, enrolling in the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957, the Little Rock Nine introduced a young Paul to the civil rights movement and inspired the lyrics of "Blackbird."

The nine black students bravely enrolled at the segregated all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957 after the Supreme Court's infamous Brown v. Board of Education ruling declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Initially, Arkansas' governor, Orval Faubus, called upon the National Guard to prevent them from entering the school, however President Dwight D. Eisenhower quickly sent in federal troops to ensure their safe attendance in the school's classes.

Photo: © 2015 MPL Communications Ltd/Photographer: MJ Kim

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