Pioneer female bandleader; in 1923, after graduating from Sioux City
High School in her hometown, she formed her own all-girl band, the
Melody Girls, where she played the saxophone; she subsequently fronted
all-girl bands during the heyday of the big bands - she was an advocate
for women in jazz all of her life, and led her last band, Peggy Gilbert
& the Dixie Belles from 1974 to 1998.