Since its founding in 1959, EAS has become a premier venue for analysts to learn about new technologies, new applications for older technologies, and developments in such diverse fields as bioanalysis, pharmaceutical analysis, forensic science, laboratory management, and environmental analysis.  Throughout the years, the EAS has been the place where innovations in analytical science have been introduced to the community of analytical scientists.
The first EAS was held in 1959 at the Hotel New Yorker in New York City, with 1200 attendees at 12 technical sessions.  The exposition had 38 exhibitors who displayed the latest in analytical supplies and instrumentation.  During the early years in New York, the EAS was held at various hotels in the city, as the attendance grew.  At the 10th EAS, a workshop on electrochemical techniques was the origin of the exhibitor workshops, which later would become a standard feature of the EAS program.  By the 15th symposium, major awards were given out as part of the program of the Symposium, including the Meggers Memorial Award, the Hassler Award in Applied Spectroscopy, and the Anachem Award.
In 1973, the EAS was suspended to support the emerging FACSS (Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies), whose meetings were held at a similar time of the year.  After two years, an EAS mini-symposium was held, and in 1977, the EAS returned to its original format in New York City.  During the late 1970s and the 1980s, the EAS was moved from location to location New York City, as attendance continued to expand.  During this period, the Governing Board of the Eastern Analytical Symposium began to present its own awards for excellence in analysis.  In 1986, the first EAS Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Fields of Analytical Chemistry was presented to Professor George Morrison, who - aside from his many scientific contributions - had been instrumental in the early development of EAS.  At the same meeting, the EAS Award for Outstanding Contributions to Separations Science was presented to Professor Csaba Horvath.  In subsequent years, EAS awards of contributions to other areas would be added to recognize contributions to various areas of analysis.  Currently, the EAS presents the six major awards listed above to distinguished scientists from around the world at the annual Symposium.
As the 1990s dawned, it became necessary for the Eastern Analytical Symposium to find a venue for the meeting to meet the needs of a growing meeting.  In 1990, the EAS moved to the then-new Garden State Convention and Exhibit Center in Somerset, New Jersey.  As the symposium continued to grow, even the GSCEC seemed limited.  In 2000, the EAS was moved to the Atlantic City Convention Center, where it remained for two years.  However, beginning in the early 2000s, it was decided to move the EAS back to the Garden State Convention and Exhibit Center.
Although the Eastern Analytical Symposium started as a regional meeting, where persons interested in practical analytical chemistry from laboratories in the Northeast could meet to discuss problems of common interest, it has grown to international stature, with attendance from analysts from laboratories in companies and universities across the world.  The Symposium has further grown to emphasize a wide variety of technologies and areas of application that could only be dreamed of in 1959.  Applications to traditional areas of analysis are still represented among the talks, but unique to the Eastern Analytical Symposium are areas such as cultural heritage and forensic science.  As the 21st century has dawned, EAS continues to provide an inclusive home for practical analytical studies, to educate about the latest technologies, and to inform its audience about the current state of analysis.
After several decades of holding the meeting in Somerset, NJ, the annual symposium was moved to nearby Princeton, NJ in 2017.