Helen Monchow

By Maura Fennelly

 In the preface to her book titled The Use of Deed Restrictions in Subdivision Development, economist Helen Monchow writes: “From the standpoint of controlling development the pattern of our modern cities is determined largely by the activities of two groups, the realtors and the city planners” (p. iii). While these two actors undoubtedly had significant power in constructing and controlling urban landscapes, Monchow left out another key group within the network of real estate to which she herself belonged: researchers.

Dr. Helen C. Monchow

As a White female economist, Helen Monchow was an exception to the otherwise White male-dominated network of people shaping real estate and land use in the early 20th century. Her research career was short due to her death at 52, but in three decades she contributed to racist segregation policies that protected White owners’ property values and destroyed minority neighborhoods through urban renewal. 

Thanks to Monchow’s alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, there are detailed accounts of her academic and professional career roles. Born in 1898, she spent her early years in Ohio before moving to Massachusetts to attend the all-women’s college. She remained heavily involved with her alumni network until her passing, with her friends still calling her by her college nickname “Monox” long after graduation. She served as a Holyoke trustee with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins by the late 1930s and was part of numerous women’s organizations like the Women’s College Board of Chicago and the American Advancement of University Women. She also contributed to a fund in her name that would pay for several students’ cost of attendance.

Monchow’s Responses to Mount Holyoke’s “Biographical Data for the College Press Bureau”, 1939

For two years (1920 to 1922) she worked as a record clerk in Cleveland, probably in an office similar to the one where we do our Chicago Covenants research sessions. She also had a stint at the Women’s City Club in Cleveland, an organization focused on promoting women’s engagement in civic affairs. She then moved to Chicago, where she worked as Richard Ely’s personal secretary. before enrolling in economics classes and eventually joining his Institute for Research in Land Economics. Ely is known as the “father of land economics'' and advanced racist ideas of land valuation that laid the groundwork for practices like redlining.

Note for Alumnae Record at Mount Holyoke College describing Monchow taking a secretary position with Richard Ely

Despite finding much success in academic research, Monchow expressed frustration over a lack of advancement due to her gender.  All the while,  she wrote one of the most influential pieces on land valuation before earning her PhD in 1937. In 1928, she published The Use of Deed Restrictions. In the book, Monchow analyzed the use of restrictions in subdivisions across the U.S. and argued that deed restrictions had advantages over zoning because of the granular property-by-property detail that could go into their restrictions. 

In the book, Monchow examined 84 deeds and 40 of them contained race restrictions. The majority of the deeds with restrictions were newer, which suggests the growing popularity of covenants after the Corrigan v Buckley Supreme Court Case in 1926 that deemed racial covenants to be constitutional. Monchow was aware of the ambiguity of covenants’ legal standing, even with the Corrigan ruling. She knew government-issued racial restrictions were no longer permissible after the Buchanan v. Warley Supreme Court Case in 1917 that deemed a Louisville, KY segregation ordinance was an overreach of police powers. However, residents and developers still had power to use private contracts to restrict people on the basis of racial classification.

Real estate researchers and practitioners commended Monchows’ findings. JC Nichols, the first subdivider to use deed restrictions and who popularized the practice, wrote such an extensive positive review of Monchow’s book that it was turned into a stand-alone article in The Journal of Land & Public Utility Economics. He wrote:  “Few people realize the terrific economic waste, estimated at more than one billion dollars a year, of rapid changes in the character of residential neighborhoods in American cities. Stability, permanence, or, if you will, orderly progress, conceived and aided by city planning officials and by developers using deed restrictions, combat this waste.” Monchow’s study served as a manual for real estate developers to discriminate, under the cover of efficient land development.

Monchow continued to be a leading influence in academic and policy discussions surrounding real estate. She served as managing editor for the top land economics journal, The Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics of Chicago from 1931 and 1942. Richard Ely’s son-in-law and economist Edward Morehouse noted that during Monchow’s tenure as editor, “During the next 11 years, a period of uncertainty and real "Sturm und Drang" for the journal, Miss Monchow carried virtually single-handedly the responsibilities of editing the journal and securing the generous assistance of Northwestern University in continued publication.” 

In addition to demanding journal management responsibilities, Monchow published a second book, Seventy Years of Real Estate Subdividing in the Region of Chicago, in 1939. The book identified peak subdivision cycles between 1891 and 1926, which coincided with population growth in the Chicago area. Homer Hoyt, the former Chief Land Economist of the Federal Housing Authority responsible for establishing racist FHA underwriting guidelines, was a fan of Monchow’s study. In a review of the book, he lauded her for its detail on development trends and noted that an excess of subdivision development contributed to blight on the fringe of cities. Hoyt argued: “the need for control of future subdividing is evident, and Miss Monchow's authoritative study is indispensable for legislators contemplating methods of regulation.” Such regulation includes restrictive zoning measures that are now commonly debated today due to their role in limiting the supply of housing.

Homer Hoyt is traditionally known for his work “pioneering work in land use planning, zoning, and real estate economics”. However, we now know Homer was also responsible for writing and establishing racist FHA guidelines.

Once earning her PhD, Monchow remained as a faculty member at Northwestern for a brief period and taught courses. She moved more directly into the policy field when she became a city planner with the Chicago Plan Commission in 1941. As she succeeded professionally, Monchow wrote about wanting to contribute to the war effort. She moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Editor of Publications for the National Housing Agency (NHA). There she was able to work on wartime and postwar policies for veteran housing and also volunteer with the Red Cross by preparing surgical dressings. 

While supporting state-funded projects to support returning veterans, Monchow continued to contribute to racist housing policies. An obituary for Monchow discusses her role with the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), which preceded the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Monchow participated in writing Title 1 of the Housing Act of 1949, which has been described as funding slum clearance and urban renewal across the U.S. as cities then had the  power to use eminent domain to deal with “blighted” areas. Her final role at HHFA was with the “Division of Slum Clearance and Urban Redevelopment”. Despite resident resistance, urban renewal projects led to the destruction of entire neighborhoods. Similar to racial covenants’ impacts, these projects most negatively impacted non-White residents who lived in undervalued and underinvested spaces. 

In 1950, Monchow died unexpectedly after an operation due to complications from lung cancer. Yet in such a short period she became a key actor in a growing network of real estate stakeholders and institutions. Monchow was a pioneering woman in economics and especially land economics – her contributions to research on land economics and subdivision deed restrictions cannot be understated, where her work remains heavily cited by historians [and economists] to this day. Monchow’s commitment to supporting women in education served as a foil to the implications of her research.