NATCHEZ — The past has never been far away in Natchez, but a group of academics are making sure history never fades away.

Researchers from the Classical Institute of the South and the Winterthur Program are visiting Natchez this month to study the antiques of Natchez and the surrounding area.

“The CIS exists to catalogue fine arts and decorative arts, such as furniture, metal work, ceramics, glass, textiles and all of the other furnishings,” said Caryne Eskridge, project director and research curator for the CIS.

Eskridge, along with Lea Lane and Katie McKinney, who are graduate students from the University of Delaware and fellows in the Winterthur program, study the culture of America through the items people once used to decorate their homes.

The group is trained to recognize the age of an antique and where it was made from the material and the design, Eskridge said.

Eskridge and the fellows have visited antebellum homes that are open to the public, such as Stanton Hall, as well as preserved private homes.

“It’s an amazing hands-on learning experience,” McKinney said. “The best way to apply what we know is to come and do it. So it’s a great change to contribute to scholarship and to learn.”

Once antiques are proven to be authentic, they are measured, photographed and the information about the location and manufacturer is catalogued in the CIS database.

The database should be open to institutions, such as the Historic Garden Club, by October on the CIS website, Eskridge said.

Katie Kirchoff, director and curator of historic properties for PGC, said she is going to begin to retool the Stanton Hall tour in upcoming months, and the information will be useful.

Kirchoff joined PGC in July and has been working with the CIS students for their research.

“It’s going to help us deal a little bit more responsibly with our objects,” Kirchoff said. “And to better interpret those objects (for the tour).”

Kirchoff said the information would also be helpful in their efforts to preserve the history of the house in case of damage.

“We are getting high-quality photography, and know for sure what’s authentic,” Kirchoff said.

The CIS was established to help promote the study of these objects out of the North East.

“These project exist because a lot of the things that are in the houses in the south have never been looked at by the people who have the training we do,” Eskridge said. “Really it’s kind of untapped, a lot of these collections we get to go see.”