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Catalog Data

Written by:
Cortez W. Peters Jr., American, 1925 - 1993  Search this
Published by:
McGraw-Hill Education, American, founded 1888  Search this
Photograph by:
Ken Karp, American  Search this
Medium:
ink on paper (fiber product) with cardboard
Dimensions:
H x W x D (Closed): 11 × 8 3/4 × 5/8 in. (28 × 22.2 × 1.6 cm)
H x W x D (Open): 20 3/8 × 8 3/4 × 2 11/16 in. (51.8 × 22.2 × 6.8 cm)
Type:
textbooks
Date:
1993
Caption:
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.
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 honed and taught the Cortez Peters typing methodology in their schools and later through books and online. This method is knows 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.
Description:
A book titled, Cortez Peters Championship Formatting, written by Cortez Peters. The front cover features a color photograph of a large gold trophy cup set against a purple background. The trophy is casted in a soft spotlight. It has two (2) handles and a black and dark pink base. The background above the trophy cup is dotted white. The title is printed in white block text at the top, [CORTEZ PETERS] and is framed above and below with yellow and purple lines. Below is the rest of the title, [CHAMPIONSHIP / FORMATTING] and is framed above and below with yellow and green lines. The back cover features a smaller, identical image on the front cover. The image is set against a dark purple background. In the bottom right corner is the publisher’s name printed in red and blue text that reads [GLENCOE / Macmillan/McGraw-Hill]. A white box with the barcode and ISBN number is printed in the bottom right corner. The book’s spine is at the top edge of the cover and the book opens vertically. The interior pages are white with black text and purple text, headers, graphics, diagrams, and bullet points. The book has one hundred and sixteen (116) pages plus ten (10) pages of publisher information, contents, user instructions, and an index.
Topic:
African American  Search this
Business  Search this
Communication  Search this
Education  Search this
Labor  Search this
Credit Line:
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Joanne Peters King and Darryl Wayne Joyce
Object number:
2019.30.4
Restrictions & Rights:
© McGraw-Hill Education
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
See more items in:
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification:
Documents and Published Materials-Published Works
Data Source:
National Museum of African American History and Culture
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd554f0201c-f429-45d5-a368-82a185a51395
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmaahc_2019.30.4