Top Features for Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city located in western Massachusetts. It can be found beside the Connecticut River. One major attraction in Springfield is the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which commemorates the sport’s invention in a spectacular building. There are also many other museums like the Springfield Museums, which feature American paintings and sculptures, scientific exhibits, and Asian art, and Springfield Armory, which documents two centuries of military history. In addition, the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss celebrates the children’s author.
Facts
- Basketball was invented in Springfield in 1892.
- The American car was invented in this city in 1893, and the motorcycle was invented in Springfield in 1901.
- In 1905, the modern fire engine was invented in Springfield.
- The first commercial radio station was also invented in this city in 1920.
History/Data
Springfield, Massachusetts, was founded in 1636 as an Agawam Plantation after the nearby village of Algonkian-speaking Native Americans. In addition, it was the northernmost settlement of the Connecticut Colony, and the town changed its name to Springfield, with political boundaries among what later would become New England states.
In 2019, it was determined that the population of Springfield was 154,139 residents.
LGBTQ+ Facts
According to the LGBTQ+ publication Advocate Magazine, Springfield was ranked as the second-most gay-friendly city in the nation in 2013, coming in just after Tacoma, Washington. It ranked so highly due to several factors like the number of LGBTQ+ elected officials, their stance and policies on marriage equality, and a roller derby league based in the city.
This ranking was not the first time that Springfield has been recognized for its attitude towards LGBTQ+ rights. In 2010, it was ranked 13th in the nation, with Burlington, Vt., taking the second spot.
In 2011, Baystate Medical Center was also recognized as having a perfect score on its Healthcare Equality Index.
In addition, the LGBT Pride movement in Springfield has surged in recent years, thanks to a push from citizens like Amaad Rivera, a former city councillor.
Mental Health in Springfield, Massachusetts
A new survey shows that students in the eighth grade in Springfield are more likely to feel hopeless than their counterparts in the rest of Massachusetts.
Thirty-one percent of the eighth-graders surveyed reported feeling sad or hopeless every day for two weeks or more in a row, compared to 20 percent in the state.
For LGBTQ+ students, the rates are even higher. Sixty percent of those LGBTQ+ students reported that they had felt sad or hopeless compared to 27 percent of students who said they identified as heterosexual. In addition, the survey discovered that female students were twice as likely to feel hopeless as their male counterparts.
**Note: This language features gender dichotomously as that is what is indicated in the research, and it does not talk about any variability. We have used the language in these statistics because this is what was reported in the study.
If you know a child or youth in need of a psychologist in the Springfield area, be sure to browse through our extensive listings at LGBTQ and ALL.