CINCINNATI - FAR from the official pomp and ceremony in Washington, Americans met in big gatherings and intimate groups to watch Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the first US black president.

At Cincinnati's Freedom Centre, a museum that celebrates the end of slavery, 300 people packed a theatre to watch coverage of the inauguration on a big screen.

'I wanted to be around people and it's a blessing to be here to see it,' said Carla Smith, a 44-year-old construction worker. 'The Freedom Center says a lot to African Americans and now we're all just Americans. It's a historic moment.'

Eleven-year-old Sharon Ellis, also an African American, skipped school to attend the screening with her grandmother.

'It's just really special,' said Ellis. Asked if she was excited to see the swearing-in of the first black president, Ellis said yes, but added, 'Really it's all the issues too, what he's going to do in Iraq and stuff.'

At Valley Park Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas, the inaugural events were streamed into every classroom, as they were in many schools across the country.

'We're making a big deal out of it,' said first-grade teacher Dustin Springer, whose 22 six- and seven-year-old students watched both the parade and Mr Obama's speech.

In New York City, thousands watched the proceedings live on a huge screen in Times Square.

'I've never really been into any inauguration until now. It speaks volumes that so many people are out here, witnessing this event, Obama is somebody who gives us hope for the future,' said Anthony Randolph, 28, an unemployed African-American from Brooklyn.

In Texas, Kris Clark spent the day with volunteers at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, greeting US soldiers arriving home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

'I thought my patriotic thing today would be to come here, these are the ones keeping us safe,' said Ms Clark, 66, adding that she first listened to the inauguration on the radio.

At the dusty, sun-baked US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where 245 foreign captives in the US war on terrorism are being held, soldiers and sailors watched the televised inauguration as they ate their lunch in a dining hall.

'It's been a long time coming,' said MC1 Ernie Dwight, a black sailor who applauded when Mr Obama took the oath of office.

Mr Obama has said he will shut down the prison camp, which was opened after the Sept. 11 attacks and has been a source of fierce international criticism.

Fulfillment of a dream

In Birmingham, Alabama, a center of the black civil rights struggle in the 1960s, more than 4,000 people gathered to watch the ceremony and celebrate at a downtown auditorium.

'Countless hundreds across this nation are watching a fulfillment of the dream we sacrificed for. We are seeing it become a reality with our very own eyes,' said Rev. Calvin Wood, who was beaten and arrested as he worked with civil rights leader Martin Luther King during the 1960s.

The inauguration was aired across Chicago, Mr Obama's adopted hometown. At a Montessori school, principal Jennifer Hanna rented a giant-screen TV and passed out tissues to teary parents. She led the 3- to 5-year-olds in applause when Vice-President Joe Biden, then Mr Obama, were sworn in.

At the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, festivalgoers watched the inauguration on a jumbo television screen and then danced in the streets to U2's song 'Beautiful Day'.

Most seemed hopeful that the Mr Obama administration would be more supportive of the arts than had been Mr Bush. 'Our culture was packed in cotton ... this is the great unpacking,' Gene Rosow, co-director of environmental film 'Dirt! The Movie,' said at an inauguration watch party.

Many workplaces took a break for the occasion. Microsoft sponsored viewing parties at more than 10 company offices around the country, setting up TVs and refreshments so employees could watch while they worked.

Not everyone celebrated. In a sign of the hard economic times, about 100 mostly unemployed workers and executives attended an event to polish their resumes and network in Scottsdale, Arizona, rather than watch the ceremony.

'To see the inauguration live doesn't interest me that much right now, I can see it later on the television,' said Scott Jeffy, 59, an unemployed commercial developer who has been looking for work for the past six months. -- REUTERS