A Date With History

Osborn Savage and James Hill, both in their 80s, retraced the history they were witnessing Election Day from a bench outside their housing complex in Harlem around 11 a.m. as black voters cast a presidential ballot for one of their own. “This is something I didn’t think I would see in my time,” said Hill, 89.

Twelve hours later, these two friends of 50 years, who took part in civil rights protests in the 1960s, would see history made as Barack Obama was elected the United States’ 44th President – and its first African-American chief executive.

“It makes me proud,”  Savage, 84, said of  Obama. “I didn’t think he’d get this far.”

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Scenes From an Inauguration

The big story that brought the throngs to Washington was Barack Obama’s historic inauguration. But there were many more American stories among the faces in the crowd.

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Scenes of Celebration

NYCity Snapshot: Life in Four More Years

In 1980, Ronald Reagan asked Americans, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" More than 60 NYCity News Service reporters hit the streets to ask New Yorkers: "Where do you want this country to be four years from now?"

What a Difference a Year Makes

Last November, NYCity News Service reporters snapped photos of mostly empty polling places on a sleepy Election Day. This year, our staff photographed packed polling spots as New Yorkers casted ballots in the historic presidential election.