The Reynolds Letters: Hope Yu ’26 digitizes archival collection with other Carls

Carleton’s Gould Library houses a variety of resources, from fiction books to primary historical sources. One such collection in the College Archives, the Reynolds Letters, includes handwritten letters by Mary Reynolds, Class of 1904, documenting her Christian missionary work in China. 

When Hope Yu ’26 discovered the Reynolds Letters through HIST 355: Carleton in the Archives: Carleton in China, she was fascinated by Reynolds’s story. However, the collection had never been readily accessible until Yu and her group members — Kate Wiczynski ’27, Aiden Johnson ’27, Megan Smith ’27, Harrah Hu ’28, and May Zhou ’28 — digitized the letters in another course Yu was taking the same term, DGAH 110: Hacking the Humanities.

“On the second day of [HIST 355], we had a presentation by Special Collections, and they were showing us materials [from the Carleton in China collection],” Yu said. “I had never heard about [the Reynolds Letters], and there wasn’t a lot of explanation. I was like, okay, that’s so fascinating. I’ll do [my final paper] on that.”

While writing her final paper, Yu and Claire Sniffen ’26 transcribed the letters, so Yu was able to use her transcription in the final digital project for DGAH 110, The Reynolds Letters.

“The website is a digitization of every single one of the letters that we have,” Yu said. “It has a synopsis, photos of each letter, and full transcriptions with notes.”

Yu’s group’s work extended beyond transcription. Using ArcGIS, the students mapped Reynolds’s travels across China, placing her experiences within a geographic and historical context. They also used a textual analysis environment called Voyant Tools to identify patterns in her writing, such as recurring words and themes.

“A part of the class was using online digital tools to learn how else you can analyze humanistic sources,” Yu said. “You can run full text through this generator and it shows the most common words, which is really cool.”

The Reynolds Letters are not just historical documents, but part of Carleton’s institutional history. Yu felt connected to the letters, as Reynolds was a Carleton alum writing directly to faculty and reflecting on campus life, creating a link between present-day students and the College’s early twentieth-century community.

“In [Reynolds’s] earlier letters talking to her Carleton friends, they’re referencing buildings and professors,” Yu said. “She has some letters specifically to President Strong, and she asks him for a letter of recommendation.”

When transcribing the letters, Yu found Reynolds’s perspective, which was shaped by both her role as a teacher and her proximity to missionary work, compelling. Though not formally a missionary, Reynolds lived among missionaries and incorporated Christian teachings into her lessons.

“I call her a proto-missionary,” Yu said. “She’s going to China, but she’s going as a governess, not as a missionary.”

At the same time, the letters document moments of cultural exchange that complicate a one-sided narrative. Reynolds learned Chinese, formed relationships with her students, and described their influence on her own worldview.

“You see this really interesting, quick syncretism — a complication of the normative Western, Christian-centric worldview,” Yu said.

Yu also appreciated the collaborative nature of the project. Carleton students from different academic backgrounds contributed to various components, from web design to spatial analysis.

“It was good to have other eyes on the project,” Yu said. “We figured out some of the things that I missed during my first run-through of the letters.”

As a result of digitization, the project expands access to an archival collection and contributes to broader historical conversations. Yu hopes the letters will be used by future students and researchers, particularly in the study of missionary work and cross-cultural exchange.

“I don’t want to be the only person who’s ever written a paper on this,” Yu said. “There are so many other things you could look at!”

Yu credited Carleton’s archival resources, close engagement with professors, and the ability to bridge coursework across disciplines as key factors that allowed her to successfully complete the project.

“I chose to bring my paper topic from one class into my final project from another,” Yu said. “That’s an example of the creative freedom you get at a small school like Carleton.”

For Yu, the experience also reflects a broader shift in how humanities research can be conducted and shared.

“In the humanities, we often think that doing research is very individual,” Yu said. “This is a great example of a really collaborative, interdisciplinary process.”