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President-elect Barack Obama made history when he became the first African American voted into the country's highest office.

For many local African Americans who have experienced more racially charged times than these, it's a joyous day they thought might never come.

Ethel Garvin, a Norton resident and chairwoman of the the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee of Greater Attleboro, said she was moved by the significance of Obama's election.

"I didn't run out of my apartment and dance in the street, but I certainly felt it inside," Garvin said. "I was very happy and jubilant that he won. I was a little emotional, I didn't expect that. I got a little teary-eyed so it touched me on that level.

"I was awed by the global jubilation that we saw, just by the diversity of the vote that he received, how much electoral vote he captured," she added. "Colin Powell called him a transformative figure, and that's what I saw." Born in 1964, Garvin said she believes that while biases still remain, the country has moved beyond the serious racial issues that plauged the nation in the 1960s and before.

Still, when Jesse Jackson ran for president in 1984, Garvin saw the run as more symbolic than serious. This was the first time Garvin thought a black man taking office was possible.

And after Obama won, Garvin found his uplifting message taking root in her life.

"I was inspired and I got up the next day thinking, 'Yes I can,'" Garvin said. "It was funny. I had to laugh at myself."

Amos Robinson, a former Mansfield selectman who grew up in segregated Alabama and witnessed the Montgomery bus boycott first-hand, said Obama's election is proof that "anything is possible."

"It's just one of those things that it took a long time getting here, but eventually it made it," Robinson said. "And am I happy? Absolutely. Overwhelmed, overjoyed."

Robinson has experienced his share of the country's legacy of racism.

While serving in the Army as the only black soldier in his unit and traveling by bus with his comrades, Robinson was refused a meal at a restaurant in South Carolina because the restaurant did not serve blacks.

White soldiers ate while Robinson, a member of his country's armed forces, went hungry.

Robinson also knows about pioneering in politics. As a selectman, he was the first African American elected in Mansfield. He said there have been many other examples of pioneering blacks elected as selectmen, mayors and governors before this most recent milestone. "We all had that dream that it would come to his point, but we just didn't know when, where or how," he said. "So we started very low and now we've reached the top. Something didn't happen overnight. We just gradually got there."

Julie Woods, 48, of Wrentham, a philanthropist with a psychology degree from Harvard University, said she didn't vote for Obama because of his skin color but "understands" why race was important in the election.

"Believe me, I know what it will mean to many people,'' said Woods. "You're talking to a second generation Harvard grad. My mother graduated from Harvard, only she had to get on the back of the bus to take the third-class train to get to her classes at Harvard. And, she was able to go to school there, but she was not allowed to live on campus."

The Rev. Jewel Hardmon, pastor of Fruit of the Spirit Mission Church in Attleboro, likewise understands the racial implications inherent in Obama's election, but said she is ecstatic about what his victory means for all citizens, not just African Americans.

"I think it's a great day for our nation," Hardmon said. "I never thought I would ever see an African American elected president of the United States of America. I am very proud of my country and very happy, and I just think this election will draw us closer as a nation and break down walls and barriers that keep us separated as people."

"I wish my parents were still alive to see it, but I'm glad my grandchildren are alive to see this," she said.

Hardmon - who was born in 1950, grew up in Boston and moved to Attleboro 30 years ago - experienced both diversity and separation of races as the country struggled to make "melting pot" more than a buzzword.

Now, she sees what is still a young nation "growing up and doing the right thing."

Like Garvin and Robinson, Hardmon says there is a crucial lesson for people to glean from Obama's victory: that barriers are less important than the will to overcome them.

"Looking at this, not just for African Americans, but for all Americans, whether you be from Puerto Rico or Afghanistan, (the lesson is that) they can make it if they stick to their guns," Hardmon said. "There is so much in America you can strive for, and these young people in America today have to look at it and say 'I can do anything if I put my mind to it.' This is a great day for us."