by Peter Crimmins and Elizabeth Fiedler, WHYY News

Across Philadelphia people gathered in auditoriums, classrooms, and on outdoor lawns to watch the historical swearing-in of the 44th President of the United States.  The crowd on Independence Mall stood in rapt attention on the frozen ground.

Al and Shirley Watson wanted to take their two daughters to Washington DC to see President Obama take office live and in person.  But their bus broke down, so instead they stood with a few thousand others on the frozen Independence Mall lawn to watch it on a Jumbotron screen.

Native son Vincent C. Jones said as long as Philadelphia has Independence Hall, there is no need to go to Washington DC.

Jones: “I really didn’t have to go that far because it starts at that building.  And you got the Liberty Bell.  It should have been here, we got just as much closeness as they did.”

Mayor Michael Nutter, who was in DC, delivered a pre-recorded video message to Philadelphians on the Jumbotron, saying Obama will bring America through these tough times so it will emerge a “fair, strong, and respected world leader.”

Across town in Germantown a largely African American crowd gathered indoors to take in the ceremony.

More than a hundred senior citizens gathered at the Center in the Park to watch the Inauguration and many said the historic event reminded them of the national civil rights struggles and Martin Luther King Jr.

North Philadelphian Melvin Grant, Sr. said during the ceremony he thought about the rallies he participated in including the fight to integrate Girard College in North Philadelphia.

Grant: “We fought.  We knew inch by inch we’ll get there.  This is where we have been fightin’ to get and we finally got there.  This is a long road we have traveled from the fields to the White House.”

Grant said he always believed the country would elect an African American President during his lifetime.

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