Date: 1954

Origin: CNE Archives

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. Cortez Peters participated in the Royal Typewriter exhibit at the CNE from 1948 to 1955.