Velma Maia Thomas is a public historian and the author of several nonfiction books including the award-winning interactive Lest We Forget: The Passage from Africa to Slavery and Emancipation, (Random House, 1997) now a collector's item. Velma also served as the manager of the Shrine of the Black Madonna Cultural Center and Bookstore in Atlanta from 1987 to 2000, where she created the nationally acclaimed Black Holocaust Exhibit , a collection of original documents on slavery and resistance in America.   In 2012, Velma was selected as a subject expert for the PBS documentary, Underground Railroad: The William Still Story, which continues to air nationally. Velma holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Howard University, a master's degree in political science from Emory University, and a graduate level certificate in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University. Currently, Velma is a historian with New South Associates, Inc. in Stone Mountain, Georgia.