Explore Black History

1979

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 book titled, The Cortez Peters Championship Typing Drills, written by Cortez Peters. The book is spiral bound along the top edge with a metal comb and the book opens vertically. The front cover is brown with the title printed in black and white text in varying fonts and sizes across the top that reads [THE / CORTEZ PETERS / CHAMPIONSHIP / TYPING / DRILLS / AN INDIVIDUALIZED DIAGNOSTIC/ /PRESCRIPTIVE METHOD / FOR DEVELOPING ACCURACY AND SPEED]. The white text, [CHAMPIONSHIP / TYPING / DRILLS ] is repeated and accentuated with a black text zoom effect. At the bottom center is the author’s name [PETERS] printed in black text. The back cover is brown. In the bottom right corner is the publisher’s name printed in black text that reads [GREGG]. Below is the publisher’s logo, a black box with brown text that reads [Mc / Graw / Hill]. Below the logo is a book number in black text that reads [0-07-049590-4]. The interior pages are white with black text, charts, and drills. Inside the front cover is a pencil inscription that reads [Property of: / Joanne P. King]. the book has forty-seven (47) pages plus ten (10) pages of publisher information, contents, title page, and a preface.

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

2019.30.5

textbooks

© McGraw-Hill Education
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

ink on paper (fiber product) with metal

H x W x D (Closed): 11 1/4 × 8 11/16 × 3/8 in. (28.5 × 22 × 1 cm)
H x W x D (Open): 22 3/16 × 8 11/16 × 3/8 in. (56.4 × 22 × 1 cm)

Title • The Cortez Peters Championship Typing Drills: an Individualized Diagnostic/Prescriptive Method for Developing Accuracy and Speed

nmaahc_2019.30.5

NMAAHC

THE CORTEZ PETERS CHAMPIONSHIP TYPING DRILLS: AN INDIVIDUALIZED DIAGNOSTIC/PRESCRIPTIVE METHOD FOR DEVELOPING ACCURACY AND SPEED

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1970s

Peters, Cortez W. • Delaney, Gertrude • McGraw-Hill Education

Education • Labor unions • Business • Communication

Images

Use Restricted