After an early career contributing articles to Philadelphia newspapers, she became women's editor of the New York Age from 1885 to 1889, and of the Indianapolis World from 1891 to 1892. 

She strongly supported the development of Black newspapers, and encouraged more women to enter journalism.

Born on July 3, 1855 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of Charles and Emily Bustill and came from a prominent family. Her great-grandfather, Cyrus Bustill, served in George Washington's troops as a baker and after the War of Independence, he started a successful bakery in Philadelphia. 

The elder Bustill also co-founded the first black mutual-aid society in America, the Free African Society. Among the many other Bustills of distinction are Gertrude's great-aunt, abolitionist and educator Grace Bustill Douglass and her daughter Sarah Mapps Douglass, who followed in her mother's footsteps. 

Gertrude's most famous descendant was her nephew Paul Bustill Robeson.