Terry Mulligan facts for kids
Terry Baker Mulligan is an American writer. She is known for her novel, Afterlife in Harlem, and her memoir, Sugar Hill: Where the Sun Rose Over Harlem. Her work has won important awards, including an IPPY Award in 2012 and Benjamin Franklin Awards in 2013.
Growing Up and Learning
Terry Baker Mulligan grew up in New York City. Her mother, Olivia Hodges Jackson, worked as a secretary. She worked for a newspaper called the New York Amsterdam News in Harlem. Later, she worked for the City College of New York.
Terry's father, Roy Baker, was from Philadelphia. He was a dancer at the famous Cotton Club. He also performed with Cab Calloway during the Harlem Renaissance. This was a time when African-American art and culture grew in Harlem. Even though her parents were not married, her father helped raise her. They had fun adventures together on Seventh Avenue.
Terry went to both public and private schools in New York City. She finished high school at the New Lincoln School in Harlem. She then studied English at Wagner College in Staten Island. Later, she earned a Master of Arts degree in English from the City College of New York.
Her Memoir: Sugar Hill
After getting married in the early 1970s, Terry Baker Mulligan moved to St. Louis, Missouri. There, she started writing her memoir, Sugar Hill, Where the Sun Rose Over Harlem. A memoir is a book about a person's own life. This book won awards in 2012.
In Sugar Hill, Terry celebrates the neighborhood of Harlem in the 1950s. She describes it as a place where many different people lived. This included famous African-American achievers and everyday families. She writes about visiting the Apollo Theater often. The Apollo was a famous place for jazz, soul, gospel, R&B, and early rock 'n roll music. Terry also shares how her grandmother, mother, and aunts helped shape her as she grew up. The cover of Sugar Hill was even shown on the front of Publishers Weekly magazine in 2012.
Awards for Her Work
Terry Baker Mulligan's memoir, Sugar Hill, Where the Sun Rose Over Harlem, received important awards:
- In May 2012, it won the Independent Publishers Gold Medal. This was for adult nonfiction about different cultures.
- In 2013, Sugar Hill won two Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal Awards. These awards were for Autobiography/Memoir and Multicultural Writing.
