Explore Black History

June 2017

Cortez W. Peters, Sr. was the first African American to win and hold the title of the World’s Accuracy Typist upon winning the World’s Amateur Typing Contest in 1925.
Born in 1906 in Baltimore, Maryland, Peters taught himself to type at the age of 11 after his father, a watchmaker, received a used typewriter as payment for his services. His self-taught style accounted for his unique typing methodology for developing accuracy and speed. Later, through a high school typing course, Peters met George Hossfeld, a World’s Champion Typist, and followed his advice to hone his technique and practice typing every day.
In 1934 Peters, Sr. opened the Cortez Peters Business School in Washington, D.C. Over the next seven years two more locations opened, in Baltimore (1935) and Chicago (1941), and remained in operation until the mid-1970s. The schools were among the only privately owned African American schools in the nation and were among the first to teach the professional skill or typing to a black audience. In addition to typing, the schools also taught shorthand and other clerical skills to help African Americans break into white collar professions. Eventually the school expanded to cover 22 subjects and taught an estimated 100,000 students across all three locations.
Cortez W. Peters, Jr. helped his father run these institutions, eventually taking over after his father’s death in 1964. Peters, Jr. was an accomplished typist in his own right, winning several awards for both speed and accuracy. Together the pair refined and taught the Cortez Peters typing methodology in their schools and later through books and online. Their method is known as an “individual diagnostic/ prescriptive method” and focuses on identifying issues with an individual’s typing methods and developing personalized strategies to create new learned behaviors. This method is seen as the foundation of modern typing instruction.

A Biography of the Lives of Cortez W. Peters, Sr., World's Accuracy Typist and Cortez W. Peters, Jr., Author and Recorder of Championship Keyboarding Methodology, narrated by JoAnne Peters King. The document is spiral bound with a black plastic spine and white front cover, and a black plastic back cover. The front cover centrally features a color photocopy reproduction of an oil painting of Cortez W. Peters, Sr. Peters is depicted in bust pose, seated behind a black typewriter, with his face turned towards the viewer. He is wearing a light colored suit with a tan tie. His hands are poised over the keyboard. The painting has a gilded frame. The subtitle of the document is printed in black text at the top of the page and reads ["THE EVEOLUTION OF THE CORTEZ PETERS CHAMPIONSHIP / TYPEWRITING METHOD FROM THE MANUAL TO THE / COMPUTER]. The title and narrator information is printed below [A Biography of the Lives of Cortez W. Peters, Sr., World's Accuracy Typist / and Cortez W. Peters, Jr., Author and Recorder of / Championship Keyboarding Methodology] and [JoAnne Peters King / Narrator / Silver Spring, Maryland / June. 2017]. The interior pages feature black text on white paper, black and white photocopies of photographs, color photocopies of photographs, and one black and white photocopy of an illustration. The document is fifty-two (52) pages plus (ten) 10 pages that includes the front cover and Table of Contents.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Books and Published Materials

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Joanne Peters King and Darryl Wayne Joyce

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2019.30.1

oral histories
transcripts

© JoAnne Peters King
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

ink on paper (fiber product) with plastic

H x W x D (Closed): 11 1/8 × 9 × 11/16 in. (28.3 × 22.8 × 1.7 cm)
H x W x D (Open): 11 1/8 × 17 5/16 × 11/16 in. (28.3 × 44 × 1.7 cm)

Title • A Biography of the Lives of Cortez W. Peters, Sr., World's Accuracy Typist and Cortez W. Peters, Jr., Author and Recorder of Championship Keyboarding Methodology

nmaahc_2019.30.1

NMAAHC

A BIOGRAPHY OF THE LIVES OF CORTEZ W. PETERS, SR., WORLD'S ACCURACY TYPIST AND CORTEZ W. PETERS, JR., AUTHOR AND RECORDER OF CHAMPIONSHIP KEYBOARDING METHODOLOGY

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

2010s

King, JoAnne Peters • Royal Typewriter Company • Peters, Cortez W.

United States • North and Central America • Montgomery County • Silver Spring • Maryland

Education • Labor unions • Business • Communication

City • Silver Spring • County • Montgomery County • State • Maryland • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America

Oral histories (document genres) • Interviews • Transcripts

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