Following efforts spanning the 1920s-1950s to set aside an arboretum from Memorial Park, science educator Robert A. Vines and philanthropist Susan Clayton McAshan worked together to secure permanency during the environmental awakening of the 1960s. Arrangements were made for the Houston Botanical Society to operate the site, exchanging earlier plans of manicured grounds for conservation of the native ecosystem. In 1967, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Aline McAshan Botanical Hall For Children. Today, this urban nature sanctuary educates people of all ages about the natural environment.