Shimek, Bohumil, 1861-1937

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Shimek lived most of his life in Johnson County, Iowa. He earned a degree in civil engineering and a master's of science from the University of Iowa. His primary interests were zoology and biology. His only recorded bird observations were from his college years. He served as county surveyor (1883-1887) and taught science at Iowa City High School (1884-1888). After two years at the University of Nebraska, Shimek returned to Iowa City to teach at the University of Iowa (1890-1937). An Iowa City elementary school and a state park in Lee County bear Shimek's name.

From the description of Bohumil Shimek ornithological papers, 1879-2007. (Iowa Sate Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 732989233

Bohumil Shimek (1861-1937) studied civil engineering at the State University of Iowa (SUI), where he received a C.E. degree in 1883 and an M.S. degree in 1902. He served as railroad and county surveyor for Johnson County, Iowa, 1883-1885, and taught sciences at Iowa City High School, 1885-1888. From 1888 until 1890, Shimek was an instructor in zoology at the University of Nebraska. From 1890 to 1932, he taught botany at SUI and served as the head of the Department of Botany, 1914-1919. In 1914, Shimek was an exchange professor at Charles University in Prague. Shimek was also Curator of the Herbarium, SUI, 1895-1937; President of the Iowa State Academy of Sciences, 1904-1905; a geologist for the Iowa State Geological Survey, 1908-1929; and Director of the Lakeside Laboratory, Lake Okoboji, Iowa. Shimek's interest in the natural sciences and geology covered many areas, but he was mostly known for his study of loess, loess fossils, and fossil malacology in Iowa and the prairie states. He was the author of the term, NEBRASKAN, which is used to describe the layer underneath the Aftonian interglacial deposits.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_299_pid_EACP296

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Wylie, Robert Bradford, 1870-. Papers of Robert B. Wylie, 1890-1956. University of Iowa Libraries
creatorOf [Bohumil Shimek, biographical materials] University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System
creatorOf Shimek, Bohumil, 1861-1937. Bohumil Shimek ornithological papers, 1879-2007. Iowa State Historical Society
creatorOf Macbride, Thomas H. (Thomas Huston), 1848-1934. Papers of Thomas H. Macbride, 1845-1954. University of Iowa Libraries
creatorOf Shimek, Bohumil, 1861-1937. Open letters of the Shimek "rebellion". State Historical Society of Iowa, Library
creatorOf Stephens, T. C. (Thomas Calderwood), 1876-1948. Iowa ornithological collection, 1819-2010. State Historical Society of Iowa, Library
creatorOf John A. Salzer Seed Co. Trade catalogs of seeds, 1877-1936. University of California, Santa Barbara, UCSB Library
creatorOf Shimek, Bohumil, 1861-1937. Letter to Bertha Shambaugh. Iowa City, IA. 1932 July 11. University of Iowa Libraries
referencedIn Izaak Walton League of America. Iowa Division. Records, 1922-1973, [n.d.]. Iowa State University, Parks Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Butler, Rush C. (Rush Clark), b. 1871. person
associatedWith Izaak Walton League of America corporateBody
associatedWith Izaak Walton League of America. Iowa Division. corporateBody
associatedWith Izaak Walton League of America. Iowa Division. corporateBody
associatedWith Macbride, Thomas H. (Thomas Huston), 1848-1934. person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Theodore, 1887-1944. person
associatedWith Scott, George Eaton. person
associatedWith Shambaugh, Bertha M.H. (Bertha Maud Horack), 1871-1953, person
associatedWith Wood, George W. person
associatedWith Wylie, Robert Bradford, 1870- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Iowa--Johnson County
Subject
Birds
Conservation of natural resources
Occupation
Botanists
Geologists
Paleontologists
Zoologists
Activity

Person

Birth 1861-06-25

Death 1937-01-30

English

Information

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