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Photograph of "The Goat Man" at the end of his life. — “The Goat Man” at the end of his life.

“The Goat Man is here!” Word would quickly spread through town as soon as someone spotted the famous wanderer and his band of smelly goats on the outskirts. Adults and children alike would drop whatever they were doing and dash over for a visit with the Goat Man.

Photograph of McCartney in a field with his band of smelly goats in 1945 — McCartney in 1945

An article in the New Georgia Encyclopedia says Charles (“Ches”) McCartney was a significant folk and religious figure in Georgia for more than four decades. After being injured on a Works Progress Administration job, McCartney experienced a religious awakening and began traveling to preach his message of eternal damnation for sinners. It is widely held that McCartney was an influence on the writings of Georgia author Flannery O’Connor.

After being brutally attacked several times, McCartney settled in South Georgia, his unique life’s story ending in a Macon nursing home in 1998.

Newspaper articles about “Goat Man” can be found in the Georgiana Collection clipping files of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Additional images of McCartney and his goats can be found in the Vanishing Georgia Collection by searching for “Charles McCartney” or “Goat Man.”

If you have memories of the “Goat Man’s” visits, leave a comment — we’d love to hear from you!

Photograph of Lamar Dodd. Courtesy of LaGrange College — Courtesy of LaGrange College

Today would be the 101st birthday of Georgia artist Lamar Dodd. He was born September 22, 1906 in Fairburn and raised in LaGrange, Georgia. The New Georgia Encyclopedia provides an overview of his life and artistic career. You can also find his birthday marked on “This Day in Georgia History” at the GeorgiaInfo site.

Painting by Lamar Dodd, Carnival at Night (1939), Courtesy of Lamar Dodd Art Center, LaGrange College — Carnival at Night (1939), Courtesy of Lamar Dodd Art Center, LaGrange College

Dodd left Georgia as a youth to study in New York, but would return and take a position with the University of Georgia (UGA). He would eventually lead the art department at UGA from 1938 until 1973. In 1996, the art school was renamed the “Lamar Dodd School of Art” in his honor (a more in depth account of his work with the art school can be found here). The Lamar Dodd Art Center, part of LaGrange College, is also named in his honor.

A photograph of his childhood home in LaGrange can be found in the Troup County Digital Archives Project Photograph Database and in the Hubert Bond Owens and John Linley Image Collections at the Owens Library. And finally, you can read about Lamar Dodd in Thomas Reed’s The History of the University of Georgia (Chapter 16). A manuscript page of the chapter titled “Department of Art, Lamar Dodd” is viewable through an online collection from the Hargrett Library at UGA.

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The Goat Man

Lamar Dodd (1909-1996)