Historical Marker

John Jacob Niles

Composer, author, and ballad singer John Jacob Niles (1892-1980) built Boot Hill Farm here in 1939. Niles composed the songs "I Wonder as I Wander," "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," and "Go 'Way from My Window." A WWI aviator, he published the wartime collections Songs My Mother Never Taught Me and Singing Soldiers.

Niles was the first folk musician featured at Carnegie Hall and performed at the inaugural Newport Folk Festival. His publications and performances with a dulcimer exerted a strong influence on the American folk revival. Niles, his wife Rena, and their sons Thomas and John Edward, lived at Boot Hill Farm.

Southwest Clark Neighborhood Assn.

The marker was dedicated on April 28, 2018.