[2][15] Geertruida was discovered on 23 April 1930, by Dutch astronomer Hendrik van Gent at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa.
[15] Five nights later, it was independently discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory on 28 April 1930.
[3] In 1977, a rotational lightcurve of Geertruida was obtained from photometric observations by Swedish astronomer Claes-Ingvar Lagerkvist at the Uppsala Southern Station in Australia.
[13] In October 2016, a refined period of 5.5087 hours with an amplitude of 0.35 magnitude (U=3) was obtained at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09).
The author of the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Lutz Schmadel learned about the meaning of this asteroid from Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, who was a long-time astronomer at Leiden Observatory.