The first Wenner-Gren Symposia -- "International Symposium on Anthropology" held in May 1952, and "Man's Role in Shaping the Face of the Earth," held in June 1955 -- were ambitious undertakings that brought together scores of anthropologists across all sub-disciplines and from around the globe, to inventory the cumulative knowledge within anthropology, within the discipline as a whole and closely related sciences, and as this knowledge could be applied to understanding human orgins and development.
Wenner-Gren began organizing and holding its first sympoia in the 1950s. Following "International Symposium on Anthropology" in 1952, then "Man's Role in Shaping the Face of the Earth" held in 1956, the Foundation began to hone its symposium format when it purchased Burg Wartenstein in Austria and, in 1958, established it as the Foundation's European Conference Center.
- "International Symposium on Anthropology" Alfred E. Kroeber, organizer
- "Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth" Carl O. Sauer, Marston Bates, and Lewis Mumford, organizers
- "International Symposium on Current Anthropology" Sol Tax, organizer
- "Austrian Symposium" Emil Breitinger, Joseph Haekel, and Richard Pittoni, organizers
- "Social Life of Early Man" Sherwood Washburn, organizer
- "The Application of Quantitative Methods in Archaeology" Robert F. Heizer, organizer
- "Rural Peoples of the Mediterranean" Julian Pitt-Rivers, organizer
- "Stability and Change in Thai Culture" Lauriston Sharp, organizer
- "Second Austrian Symposium" Richard Pittoni, organizer