But as he gingerly lifts an antique ceremonial mask from its crate and gives it a once over, it is clear that not only is Williams a collector of intriguing pieces of African art, he is also someone who enjoys sharing his collection with others.

Surrounded by numerous wooden containers, many of them stamped with messages such as "Fragile," "This Side Up" and "Nigeria," Williams smiles as he looks at one of the masks he has entrusted to the University of Louisiana at Monroe Foundation. Designed to resemble an elephant head and embedded with French coins, the antique is one of 40 African ceremonial artifacts from Cameroon, Gabon and Nigeria that Williams has donated to ULM. The artifacts will be revealed during the ULM Black Arts Festival on Tuesday as part of its Black History Month celebrations this week.

"It seems particularly appropriate during Black History Month to share these with the public," said Williams.

Williams acquired the objects during his service in the U.S. Foreign Service, whose diplomats seek to advance American interests abroad while also promoting peace and supporting prosperity in foreign territories. Following his Ph.D. in Latin American Studies in 1971, Williams eventually landed in West Africa, where he would live for nearly six years and become personally acquainted with the many traders who supplied him with a treasure trove of unusual artifacts.

"You can't help observing how beautiful they are — they are kind of addictive," he said. "I think the traders soon learned my tastes and knew which pieces I couldn't resist."

Williams — who insists on not being referred to as Dr. — is the kind of man who collects college degrees almost as much as he once collected artifacts. He first graduated from ULM, or what was then called North Louisiana State College, in 1961 with a degree in history; two years later he earned his bachelor of arts in social studies education and two years after that he earned his master of arts in history at ULM before moving on to Louisiana State University for his doctoral degree. He immediately went to work for the federal government after that, where he traveled the globe until his retirement in the early 1990s.

Williams, 74, remains curious about the world around him and is always eager to learn. He returned to college to earn a bachelor of arts in Spanish from Louisiana Tech University "because it is interesting," and is currently enrolled in English classes at ULM with the hope he might some day return to Mexico a few months out of the year to teach it as a second language.

In the meantime, Williams is looking forward to joining the celebrations on Tuesday, as many of the pieces he brought back from Africa will be revealed publicly for the first time since they were crated. In addition to the early 20th century elephant masks from Cameroon, the collection includes chief's thrones and tables, intricate ceremonial bowls and benches, and odd fetishes used by the Fang tribe of Gabon for warding off evil.