Document 1A: English translation of preface to De economische toestand der vrouw: Een studie over de economische verhouding tusschen mannen en vrouwen als een factor in de sociale evolutie. [The economic situation of women: A study of the economic relationship between men and women as a factor in social evolution]

   I completed the translation of this important work with love and dedication; it is a penetrating study of humanity with broad principles for the transformations our society will have to undergo.

   To me, nothing appears more necessary in achieving clearly discernable reform in our understanding of relations between the sexes than acknowledging observations about them supported by independent research, free from all doctrine, and by complete independence in the assessment of the results.

   It is true that the author had her eye set on the conditions in America in her work, but--with just slight alterations here and there--her observations are also applicable for most European countries. This work will undoubtedly encounter the esteem it attracted in America and in England here as well. Particularly as so much has been written and argued about the sexual lives of women in connection with their behavior in society, Charlotte Perkins Stetson's work will encourage reflection in many and give them the answers to many questions raised in past discussions.

   The author, a very well known poet and gifted speaker, was born in 1860 in New England. She is related to many famous men and women on both her mother's and father's side who were known for their progressive ideas and actions, among whom the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, is certainly the best known in this country.

   In 1888 she was celebrated in California, where she lived at the time, for her brilliant article about the workers' movement, and in 1896 the Fabian Society in London offered her honorary membership for the many good seeds she had sown through her various publications.

   This intellectually and multitalented woman possessed an exceptionally agreeable appearance and enlivened her speeches with humor. At the international women's conference in London in the summer of 1899, where I had the privilege of meeting her personally, she sparkled like a star of the first magnitude amongst the elite of the women's movement.

   --Translated into English by Claire Whitner