a very comfortable life. In addition, her parents did not tolerate prejudice, and they "learned right from the beginning to treat everyone with respect and consideration, regardless of race or ethnicity." Gilbert admired her father and his musical ability and took much of her inspiration from him. At age seven, Gilbert landed her first professional job as a dancer for the touring group of the Scottish cultural ambassador Sir Henry Lauder. She and six other young girls toured Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Iowa, performing the Highland Fling dance. From a young age, Gilbert was aware of the injustice that came along with gender preference, and she learned that she would have to work hard in order to achieve what she wanted. For example, although her brother Orval encouraged her in her studies, she realized that people treated him differently; she was very aware of the fact that she was "just a girl." Gilbert attended Sioux City High School where she took secretarial courses, as well as weekly piano lessons. When she graduated in 1923, she attended Morningside College for six months before leaving and going into the music business. Part of this decision was based on the fact that in the 1920s, her father became ill, so Gilbert was needed to help support her parents. At this time, she self-taught herself the alto saxophone, as she was told it was not suitable for young women, and joined the Musicians Union in Sioux City. The Melody Girls Gilbert organized her first band in Sioux City, a group that was composed of Gilbert on the saxophone and clarinet, Marjorie Kelley on piano, Dorothy Kelley on banjo and accordion, Orval Knechtges on drums, Ruth Dubnoff on violin, and two other men on trumpet and bass. The Melody Girls, also formed in Sioux City, was made up of five or six pieces and was formed with some of the musicians from her first band. The band played all around the city, in all of the clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Martin Hotel, where they played for two years and were broadcast every night on the local radio station KSCJ. When Gilbert's father died in November 1927, she decided she needed to start a career in the entertainment business in order to support her mother and grandmother. In 1928, the family moved to Los Angeles but had to return to Sioux