The Green Valley Genealogical Society was born in late 1976. A newly-arrived resident that year, Allen Ogden, noticed something amiss in Green Valley – no genealogical group, so he started one. After consulting with Barbara Salyer, then President of the Arizona State Genealogical Society, he obtained meeting space at the Catalina Savings Bank, and place a notice in the Green Valley News inviting anyone interested in genealogy to join him there. Fifteen people showed up. A beginning. An organizational meeting followed on May 18, 1977, with twenty-five in attendance. A name was adopted, “The Green Valley Genealogical Club.”.
Nineteen eighty-one was a year of change and new activity. The group changed its name from the Green Valley Genealogical “Club” to the Green Valley Genealogical “Society.”
The Southern Arizona Genealogy Society (SAGS) is an outgrowth of that Green Valley Genealogical Society. Although meetings are still held in Green Valley, membership and community outreach covers Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz, Yuma, and any other counties interested in our Society’s programs. SAGS is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.