Across the city he represented for decades, building after building is named after Edward Roybal.
And the reputation of Roybal, one of the most influential and trailblazing Latino politicians in U.S. history, reaches far beyond his political base in East Los Angeles, where there's the Edward Roybal Comprehensive Health Center. In Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named its main campus after him.
In downtown Los Angeles, there's the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, and to the south is the Edward R. Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology at USC.
This month, yet another building was named after the longtime lawmaker -- the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center -- and those who followed his career say pairing his name with a school is fitting. The high school is downtown and serves a predominantly Latino student body.
"Congressman Roybal was a champion for progressive educational issues that directly impacted Latino children," said Board of Education President Monica Garcia. "It's important students be exposed to culturally relevant role models, and Roybal is certainly a figure whose work and legacy we want to remember."
The campus originally known as the Belmont Learning Center, plagued by funding and construction delays for 15 years, ended up costing $400 million -- the nation's most expensive high school project.
After Latino organizations championed his legacy, Los Angeles Unified officials renamed the school after Roybal.
Many of the campus' students weren't even born when Roybal left public office in 1992, and many have yet to learn about his legacy.
After classes let out on a recent afternoon, a dozen students said they were given a handout on Roybal and told about his accomplishments at orientation, but none could elaborate much on him.
"I just heard that he died in 2005 and was in politics," said Julia Bethancourt, a 17-year-old junior. Her friend, Wendy Miron, 17, nodded awkwardly in agreement.
But to longtime Southern California residents, especially Latinos, Roybal's name still evokes deep respect.
He is widely considered the first Latino from Los Angeles' Eastside to win national recognition. With his election in 1949, he became the first Los Angeles City Council member of Mexican descent since 1881.
And after he left for Congress in 1962, it would take 23 years for another Latino to be elected to the council. The possibility of a Mexican American serving as mayor -- as Antonio Villaraigosa does now -- was unthinkable then.
