 In 1920 her extended family moved to Branson, Missouri, in the Ozark Mountains, then to Springfield and on to St. Louis in Missouri as her father's work changed.Hilda Neihardt attended Southwest Missouri State Teachers' College in Springfield, Missouri, and Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.After graduation, she worked for the Swiss Consulate in St. Louis, Missouri.