Immigration, Preservation — And Bread!
The storefront of the historic Reher Bakery on the corner of Broadway and Spring Street in Kingston’s Rondout neighborhood. The mission of the Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History is to preserve and present stories with universal appeal about immigration, community, work and bread. It uses its historic bakery building in Kingston’s Rondout neighborhood to forge emotional connections among all peoples through tours and programs.
Looking in the storefront windows of 101 Broadway in Kingston, you’ll see what the Reher Bakery would have looked like in 1959. This time capsule is one way the Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History is connecting with their community and celebrating immigrant stories, past and present.
The circa-1959 reproduction products help the space feel as it would have during the bakery’s heyday.
Earlier this year, the League awarded the Reher Center a NYSCA-funded Preserve New York grant to complete an updated Historic Structure Report (this report will build off an earlier document that was funded through Preserve New York in 2010). As the Reher Center continues to restore their building, this document will help create a roadmap for how best to utilize their space in support of their mission.
The Reher Bakery and the family who ran it have provided the inspiration for the Reher Center — but they use this is a starting point, focusing on multiculturalism and striving to be a place that is relevant to their community today. The story of one Jewish immigrant family is used to find connections between other immigrants who have helped shaped Kingston, and the larger Hudson Valley. In addition to tours of the historic bakery, they also host exhibitions, have a robust education program, and present the annual Kingston Multicultural Festival.
Reher Center Director Sarah Litvin standing behind the counter in the restored storefront.
Hymie Reher closed his family’s bakery in the 1980s but continued to live in the apartment upstairs. He was pleased with the thought that his family’s legacy could be preserved in the creation of a new museum and donated the buildings at 99-101 Broadway to the Jewish Federation of Ulster County in 2007. It was Geoffrey Miller’s vision that started the Reher Center, after he happened to glance inside while walking down Broadway. Over the next 13 years, the Reher Center went from a committee of the Jewish Federation to a standalone organization. The early years spent stabilizing the building and preserving the storefront led to the creation of off-site programming so they could begin the work of engaging their community even before their space could be open to the public. In 2018, the organization welcomed its first director, Sarah Litvin, and opened its doors to the public for the first time.
The oven used by the Rehers was built in 1916 and continued to make their famous rolls until the bakery closed in the 1980s. The large over could bake over 70 loaves of bread at a time.
They are currently in the finishing stages of a gallery renovation and are laying the groundwork for ambitious projects moving forward. There is ongoing restoration work needed throughout the building, including the upper floors. Their Historic Structure Report will help them figure out how they might incorporate those spaces (apartments the Reher family lived in for decades), which are not currently utilized for programming. The oven room, which is home to a massive 1916 oven, is featured during their Historic Bakery Tour, but they hope it can become a usable space for more robust programming focused on food and culture. There are so many opportunities to connect people across cultures through stories of immigration, and the Reher Center is using their historic building to do that.
The Reher Bakery was a local landmark much beloved for its bread. The fresh baked rolls brought their community together for nearly a century. The Reher Center aims to do the same thing today — with innovative programming, storytelling, and some bread, too.