ATHENS — Benard Simelton of Athens never thought he would see a black man elected president in his lifetime.

“It is a tremendous uplift for the African-American community for a black candidate to make it this far,” said Simelton, 54, chairman of the Limestone County chapter of the NAACP.

“I think it is going to encourage our youth to do better in school and to do better in anything they attempt – because the sky is the limit. I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. It kind of snuck up on us.”

In the early 1960s in Mississippi, Simelton remembered his parents having to pay poll tax in order to vote. The tax was enacted after reconstruction in 11 states, including Alabama, to prevent blacks from voting. It was outlawed in 1964 but not officially declared unconstitutional until 1966.

Throughout the day Tuesday, Simelton watched blacks and other voters go in droves to the polls.

By Tuesday night, 146 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed Negro slaves and 45 years after Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s infamous stand in the schoolhouse door, the people of the United States – more than three quarters of a million of them from Alabama – have elected the first black president, Barack Obama.

The way was paved by Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and the first black Democratic presidential candidate in 1972; and Jesse Jackson, who ran for president in 1984 and 1988.

“People didn’t take them as seriously but it took them to set the stage to have Obama to come forth,” Simelton said. “We still have a lot of people who will not like it if he wins – some based on race – but enough young people have come on board who are ready to see a change. Who have stopped basing it just by skin color but on who can get the job done.”

Like much of the nation, Simelton sees Obama’s ability to unite.

“I think nationwide we are going to see people come together more,” he said. “Obama is a person who tries to galvanize the community rather than engage in the partisanship that we’ve seen in Congress and at the presidential level. I think he will be able to erase party lines and also do a much better job internationally.”

As a result, he believes Obama will be able to “bring more jobs, work on the economy, get us out of Iraq, and work on getting us out of debt.”

From a black perspective, he sees people a lot more interested in the political scene and in where the country is going.

“You could feel that America was ready for a change,” he said. “I feel the same way now. Now we have a lot more young people. If we can get the young engaged in the nation and the world, we will see a change. The young voters don’t have the old baggage.”

Charles Shoulders, longtime member of the Limestone County Board of Education, said he is proud to have been a part of the history-making election.

“It’s been a very exciting day,” he said Tuesday. “There’s been a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of interest. I’m real pleased people have taken time out of their busy schedules to do their civic duty.”

Shoulders said the election of a black president “speaks well of the United States.”

“It’s a great opportunity for us today,” he said. “It’s certainly a historical moment and I’m so proud to be a part of it.”