Cortez Peters Jr.
Cortez W. Peters, Jr., (ca. 1926 – June 24, 1993) is the all-time world speed typing champion. Peters began typing at the age of 12, and won twelve international typing contests throughout the course of his life.
Peters set a typing world record of 225 wpm without a single mistake (an average of 18.75 keystrokes per second). His top recorded finger speed was 297 words per minute. Peters, along with his father, who was the world speed typing champion before him, developed special competition keyboarding methods and techniques that became the foundation of modern typing instruction worldwide.
Peters was a Washington D.C. native and resident. As a 15-year-old student at Cardozo High School, he became the Washington D.C. high schools typing champion. At that age, he could flawlessly type between 130 and 140 words per minute on a manual typewriter. After his graduation from Cardozo, he studied business administration at Howard University.
His father, Cortez Peters, Sr., opened the Cortez Peters business schools in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago after his son set a record of typing more than 99 words per minute, without a single mistake, in competition while wearing fingerless mittens. The schools were the first black-owned schools in the field, and during their tenure trained an estimated 45,000 students. Also see the article on Cortez Peters Sr.
He married his wife, Mildred Smith, circa 1948.
Following the schools' closure in the mid-1970s, the younger Peters began writing textbooks and became a consultant for commercial education programs. His textbooks are still widely used in schools today. He evidently served as a school administrator.
Peters died on June 24, 1993 from a heart attack in Columbia, Missouri, where he had been conducting a seminar on typing, shorthand and other clerical skills. He was survived by his wife Mildred, sister Joanne King. Most typing students today know who Cortez Peters Jr. is. As they peck away at their classroom typewriters they type passages written by Peters that inspire one to perfection, one to understanding themself, and to understand others. And all while doing so, such passages diagnose and exploit the various strengths and weaknesses of individual fingers and keystrokes and help students diagnose and practice the areas that they need the most practice on.