In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll profile remarkable women. There's Julia Child, the French Chef who got her start in the OSS, black "womanist" theologian Katie Canon, and that historical temptress, Cleopatra.

Joan Murray is the author of "Queen of the Mist: The Forgotten Heroine of Niagara," a book length poem about Annie Taylor, the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Murray tells Judith Strasser why Taylor attempted the feat, and what happened to her afterwards. Also, Margaret George, author of "The Memoirs of Cleopatra," tells Jim Fleming a little of what we actually know about the Egyptian queen, and what we think we know based on theater and cinema portrayals.

Social historian Barbara Goldsmith tells Steve Paulson about the scandalous life of Victoria Woodhull - spiritualist, financial advisor to Cornelius Vanderbilt and the first woman to run for President. Goldsmith's book is "Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull." Also, Katie Cannon tells Steve Paulson that in religious studies, as in other fields, there is a split between those who teach and those who do. That she is both a preacher and a scholar is challenging to her more traditional colleagues. Cannon was the first Black women tho earn a Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary and credits her experience in the Black church with giving her the strength to persevere.

Noel Riley Fitch is the author of "Appetite for Life" - a biography of Julia Child. Fitch tells Jim Fleming that Julia Child began her career in the OSS and didn't learn to cook until she was middle aged; explains how she wrote her first cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and what made her so successful as "The French Chef" on television.

Distribution dates:

• week of 04/04/99 - hour 3