Found on the wall of the atrium is the text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (commonly called the Bill of Rights):
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There is a second quote on the adjacent wall from Mr. Rawlings that reads:
"Without free speech and assembly, the people have no voice. Without the press, the government has no conscience. Without religious freedom, a nation has no heart."
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"The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed to assuage the fears of Anti-Federalists who had opposed Constitutional ratification, these amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. Originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, however, most were subsequently applied to the government of each state by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, through a process known as incorporation.
On June 8, 1789 Representative James Madison introduced a series of thirty-nine amendments to the constitution in the House of Representatives. Among his recommendations Madison proposed opening up the Constitution and inserting specific rights limiting the power of Congress in Article One, Section 9. Seven of these limitations would become part of the ten ratified Bill of Rights amendments. Ultimately, on September 25, 1789, Congress approved twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution and submitted them to the states for ratification. Contrary to Madison's original proposal that the articles be incorporated into the main body of the Constitution, they were proposed as "supplemental" additions to it. On December 15, 1791, Articles Three–Twelve, having been ratified by the required number of states, became Amendments One–Ten of the Constitution.
On May 7, 1992, after an unprecedented period of 202 years, 225 days, Article Two crossed the Constitutional threshold for ratification and became the Twenty-seventh Amendment. As a result, Article One alone remains unratified and still pending before the states.
The Bill of Rights enumerates freedoms not explicitly indicated in the main body of the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, and free assembly; the right to keep and bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause; indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime"; guarantee of a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury; and prohibition of double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States. The Bill was influenced by George Mason's 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, the English Bill of Rights 1689, and earlier English political documents such as Magna Carta (1215)." (from (
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"Robert H. Rawlings was born in Pueblo Colorado, in 1924, the son of John and Dorothy Hoag Rawlings.
He was reared in Las Animas and graduated from Bent County High School in 1942. Rawlings graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 1947 from Colorado College. He was in the United States Navy from December 1942 to July 1946 serving in the South Pacific. Rawlings started as a reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain and Star-Journal in 1947. In 1951 he became an advertising salesman; in 1962 he was named General Manager and in January of 1980 he was appointed Publisher and Editor; in 1984 he was elected president of The Star-Journal Publishing Corporation. The Pueblo Chieftain is the oldest daily newspaper in Colorado. The circulation area of The Pueblo Chieftain comprises approximately 25,000 square miles in Southeastern Colorado, from Kansas Border to the Continental Divide, and from Pueblo South to the New Mexico Border." (from (
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