Rebecca Wight, known in youth as Becky, was born October 17, 1959, in Washington D.C., the eldest of three daughters. She grew up in cultures all over the world, completing her high school education in Seoul, South Korea in 1977. At the time of her death, she was a graduate of Virginia Tech with a master's degree in business management. She was also a self-taught feminist who helped put together the Women's Week event while a student there.
On May 13, 1988, she was shot and killed in an act of anti-gay violence that occurred while she was camping with her girlfriend. Rebecca used her final moments to save her girlfriend's life, providing her with the instructions that enabled her to survive and escape.
Over 150 people attended Rebecca's memorial service in 1988. She is remembered for her intelligence, her love of nature, her sparkling personality, and her zest for life. She has been described as an adventurous academic, a mother figure to her two younger sisters, and a community-oriented and warm-hearted individual who touched a number of lives. She was cremated; some of her ashes were scattered and some buried in a family plot in Maine.
Her memory has far from faded both for those who knew and loved her and for those who only knew her name and story after her death. Her story has been chronicled in two books written about the event - Eight Bullets: One Woman's Story of Surviving Antigay Violence, and The Whole Truth: A Case of Murder on the Appalachian Trail. A few years after her death, a song was written about her titled "Song for Rebecca," which was performed at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival for the woman who survived the shooting.
Most recently, some of Rebecca's family and friends have shared their memories via an online project dedicated to collecting personal stories about well-known hate crime victims and a short documentary called "In the Hollow," which follows her then-girlfriend as she returns to the former campsite, has been released.
On May 13, 1988, she was shot and killed in an act of anti-gay violence that occurred while she was camping with her girlfriend. Rebecca used her final moments to save her girlfriend's life, providing her with the instructions that enabled her to survive and escape.
Over 150 people attended Rebecca's memorial service in 1988. She is remembered for her intelligence, her love of nature, her sparkling personality, and her zest for life. She has been described as an adventurous academic, a mother figure to her two younger sisters, and a community-oriented and warm-hearted individual who touched a number of lives. She was cremated; some of her ashes were scattered and some buried in a family plot in Maine.
Her memory has far from faded both for those who knew and loved her and for those who only knew her name and story after her death. Her story has been chronicled in two books written about the event - Eight Bullets: One Woman's Story of Surviving Antigay Violence, and The Whole Truth: A Case of Murder on the Appalachian Trail. A few years after her death, a song was written about her titled "Song for Rebecca," which was performed at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival for the woman who survived the shooting.
Most recently, some of Rebecca's family and friends have shared their memories via an online project dedicated to collecting personal stories about well-known hate crime victims and a short documentary called "In the Hollow," which follows her then-girlfriend as she returns to the former campsite, has been released.
Rebecca Wight, known in youth as Becky, was born October 17, 1959, in Washington D.C., the eldest of three daughters. She grew up in cultures all over the world, completing her high school education in Seoul, South Korea in 1977. At the time of her death, she was a graduate of Virginia Tech with a master's degree in business management. She was also a self-taught feminist who helped put together the Women's Week event while a student there.
On May 13, 1988, she was shot and killed in an act of anti-gay violence that occurred while she was camping with her girlfriend. Rebecca used her final moments to save her girlfriend's life, providing her with the instructions that enabled her to survive and escape.
Over 150 people attended Rebecca's memorial service in 1988. She is remembered for her intelligence, her love of nature, her sparkling personality, and her zest for life. She has been described as an adventurous academic, a mother figure to her two younger sisters, and a community-oriented and warm-hearted individual who touched a number of lives. She was cremated; some of her ashes were scattered and some buried in a family plot in Maine.
Her memory has far from faded both for those who knew and loved her and for those who only knew her name and story after her death. Her story has been chronicled in two books written about the event - Eight Bullets: One Woman's Story of Surviving Antigay Violence, and The Whole Truth: A Case of Murder on the Appalachian Trail. A few years after her death, a song was written about her titled "Song for Rebecca," which was performed at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival for the woman who survived the shooting.
Most recently, some of Rebecca's family and friends have shared their memories via an online project dedicated to collecting personal stories about well-known hate crime victims and a short documentary called "In the Hollow," which follows her then-girlfriend as she returns to the former campsite, has been released.
On May 13, 1988, she was shot and killed in an act of anti-gay violence that occurred while she was camping with her girlfriend. Rebecca used her final moments to save her girlfriend's life, providing her with the instructions that enabled her to survive and escape.
Over 150 people attended Rebecca's memorial service in 1988. She is remembered for her intelligence, her love of nature, her sparkling personality, and her zest for life. She has been described as an adventurous academic, a mother figure to her two younger sisters, and a community-oriented and warm-hearted individual who touched a number of lives. She was cremated; some of her ashes were scattered and some buried in a family plot in Maine.
Her memory has far from faded both for those who knew and loved her and for those who only knew her name and story after her death. Her story has been chronicled in two books written about the event - Eight Bullets: One Woman's Story of Surviving Antigay Violence, and The Whole Truth: A Case of Murder on the Appalachian Trail. A few years after her death, a song was written about her titled "Song for Rebecca," which was performed at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival for the woman who survived the shooting.
Most recently, some of Rebecca's family and friends have shared their memories via an online project dedicated to collecting personal stories about well-known hate crime victims and a short documentary called "In the Hollow," which follows her then-girlfriend as she returns to the former campsite, has been released.
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