---
title: Circumventing Curfew and Chemistry Woes in 1930s College Park
date: 2022-04-27T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/circumventing-curfew-and-chemistry-woes-in-1930s-college-park"
section: Articles
---
# Circumventing Curfew and Chemistry Woes in 1930s College Park

*April 27, 2022* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> 106-Year-Old Alum Shares Favorite UMD Memories

*Crampton 1920x1080 — Though Janet Weidemann Crampton '37 recently celebrated her 106th birthday, she still remembers her time at the University of Maryland well.*

It’s been 85 years since Janet Weidemann Crampton ’37 graduated from the University of Maryland, but she still vividly remembers parts of her student days, from going out dancing and sneaking back into her residence hall after curfew to male classmates playing nasty pranks on her, the only woman in a science lab.

Crampton, who just celebrated her 106<sup>th</sup> birthday, attended UMD during the Great Depression, but many of her experiences sound typical for Terps today: She joined [a sorority](https://archive.org/details/terrapinyearbook1937univ/page/228/mode/2up?q=weidemann), cheered on the Terps at football games, and dated young men from College Park and the Naval Academy, enjoying movies, ice cream and dances.

“I never, ever went steady,” she said, choosing to keep her options open. It wasn’t until the end of college that she started dating her future husband, [William Crampton ’37](https://archive.org/details/terrapinyearbook1937univ/page/38/mode/2up?q=crampton), with whom she would go on to have two sons.


*Black and white photo of young Janet Crampton wearing a fur coat and hat*


*Janet Weidemann Crampton*


Crampton put her career on hold after having children, later resuming employment at age 45 as a teacher. She didn’t retire until she was 96 years old, when macular degeneration made it impossible for her to guide 4- and 5-year-olds in learning how to read.

Today, she keeps her mind sharp through some of the same games she used to play with her students. Crampton regularly beats fellow residents at the Sunrise Senior Living center in Friendship Heights, Md., at Word Challenge, finding shorter words that can be made from the letters of a longer word. But despite regularly exercising her body and brain, she doesn’t take any credit for her longevity—“It’s God’s will,” she said.




**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni)