Col. V. J. Shimek
leader of Baltimore's Bohemian colony · active 1907
Described in 1907 as the generally recognised leader of Baltimore's Bohemian colony. In August 1907 he led about five hundred Baltimore Bohemians on a pilgrimage to Ocean City to hold memorial services for Augustine Herman, the first Bohemian settler in Maryland - moving the observance for that year from Herman's own Bohemia Manor in Cecil County to the beach.
In the record (1)
1907 · 1907-08-11
Five hundred Baltimore Bohemians make a pilgrimage to Ocean City to honour Augustine Herman, Maryland's first Bohemian settler.
From the Evening Star of 1 August 1907, datelined Baltimore: "Col. V. J. Shimek, the generally recognized leader of the local Bohemian colony, and about 500 Bohemians will make a pilgrimage on August 11 to Ocean City, where they will hold memorial services in commemoration of Augustine Herman, the first Bohemian settler in Maryland. The local colony usually holds its exercises at the old home of the founder of the colony at Bohemia Manor, Cecil county, but this year it was decided to go to Ocean City." Among the speakers were to be the Rev. V. Vanek, Mr. F. Smetanka and Col. Shimek. It is the only ethnic-heritage observance the campaign has yet found held at Ocean City, and it moved to the beach from a seventeenth-century manor house a hundred and fifty miles away because that is where excursion trains went.
Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.
Source · checked 2026-08-06