Washington - A flood of tears washed away memories of oppression and fear for Cherie White, 94, an African-American woman from Gary, Indiana, who said she completed a "personal pilgrimage" Tuesday as she witnessed Barack Obama becoming the country's first black president.

In March 1965, White and about 600 others began an 87-kilometre march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery to demand voting rights for African Americans. On the outskirts of Selma, the marchers were brutally assaulted by state troopers.

Nearly 44 years later, White said she would have liked to march again - this time to Washington, and in celebration, not protst - but was restricted by her wheelchair.

White didn't let her frail health deter her from making the 12- hour bus journey with 57 other family and church members from Gary.

She carried with her the shoes she wore on the Selma march, still caked with red clay mud, the soles well-worn and riddled with holes.

"This is what we fought for. The walk wasn't in vain. This is momentous," said White. "There will be other black presidents, but he is the first. It's a miracle. I kept myself alive to see this day. I can now rest in peace."

As Obama, 47, recited the oath of office on the steps of the US Capitol - a structure largely built by black slaves - a roar of sheer elation reverberated through the National Mall, where Martin Luther King Jr inspired the civil rights movement with his 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech.

The symbolism of the moment was unmistakably poignant and bittersweet for many. Obama was sworn in using a Bible that was used by Abraham Lincoln, the martyred president who fought a Civil War to end slavery.

Men, women and children held hands, hugged, wept openly, cheered, sang, danced, waved flags, even collapsed to the ground with emotion - and for a few moments more than 1.8 million people of different races became one.

Alta Morrow, 61, from Florence, Alabama had never attended an inauguration. "This is truly living the dream. We are moving up the ladder, first monetarily and now politically."

Morrow said she was still haunted by memories of "travelling in the back of the bus, drinking from fountains for coloured people, using school books that white students threw away and playing with discarded sports equipment."

"Obama has been sent by God. Look around," Morrow said, pointing to the crowds on the Mall. "With him, America has come together. Black America has lost generations to oppression, but now it is our time to rise."

Obama's rise to the White House was proof of racial progress since the days of slavery and the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s.

Obama himself does not descend from a slave family, though his wife Michelle does. Obama's black father was a Kenyan student in Hawaii, and genealogists have found that some ancestors on the new president's white mother's side were actually slave owners.

But on Tuesday the colour of his skin spoke louder than his specific ancestry - symbolizing the progress that African-Americans have made in a country that still enshrined legal segregation in some states less than 50 years ago.

As he started his inaugural address, Obama said: "I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors."

"The challenges we face are real," Obama said. "They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met."

Merlene Thompson, 78, a retired public school teacher from Gary who continues to mentor students and travelled with White, said: "I'm constantly telling my children to study hard, listen to their parents, do their homework and dream big. I tell them Obama's path to the White House was not easy, but if they work hard, they can also achieve it. It's an inspirational story for generations."

Valerie Peterson, 50, also a teacher, said her students often lacked direction, "but now they have hope, they have a role model. They tell me that they can dream of becoming president."

Actor Denzel Washington, who helped shape the image of the modern African-American on the big screen, said Obama's inauguration was a tribute to the sacrifices of civil rights activists who went before him.

"There's been a lot of change to lead to this moment. Many came before him, made sacrifices for this day to happen. It's for them," he said. (dpa)