Editing Ann Macbeth (section)

== Women's suffrage activism ==
Macbeth designed the banner for the 1908 Edinburgh march of the [[National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gender in Scottish History Since 1700|url=https://archive.org/details/genderscottishhi1700abra|url-access=limited|author=Lynn Abrams|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2006|isbn=9780748626397|pages=[https://archive.org/details/genderscottishhi1700abra/page/n70 62]}}</ref> In October 1909 the Glasgow branch of the [[Women's Social and Political Union]], the militant wing of the campaign for [[women's suffrage in the United Kingdom]], was presented with an embroidered banner designed by Macbeth.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928|author=Elizabeth Crawford|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn= 9781135434021|pages=254}}</ref> For a 1910 exhibition Macbeth designed the [[WSPU Holloway Prisoners Banner]] a linen quilt with the embroidered signatures of the 80 suffragette hunger strikers. It was subsequently used as a banner.<ref name="Recent">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gsaarchives.net/2015/07/glasgow-girl-ann-macbeth-and-a-recent-acquisition/ |title=Glasgow Girl Ann Macbeth and a Recent Acquisition |publisher= GSA Archives and Collections|website=The Glasgow School of Art’s Archives and Collections |year=2015|access-date=2017-11-15}}</ref>
Aside from working as a suffrage banner maker Macbeth was also a member of the Women's Social and Political Union<ref>{{Cite book|title=Through the Looking Glass: A History of Dress from 1860 to the Present Day|author=Elizabeth Wilson|publisher=BBC Books|year=1989|isbn= 9780563214410|pages=62}}</ref> and she engaged in militant action. As a result, she was imprisoned although, as she does not appear in court or newspaper reports, she appears to have done so under a false name; the nature of her action is unknown. In a letter to the Secretary of the Glasgow School of Arts from May 1912 Macbeth thanked him for his "kind letters" and wrote "I am still very much less vigorous than I anticipated... after a fortnight's solitary imprisonment with forcible feedings". After the 1912 prison stay she needed several months care as a "semi-invalid".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hand, Heart & Soul – The Arts and Crafts Movement in Scotland|url=https://gsaarchivesandcollections.wordpress.com/tag/ann-macbeth/|publisher=GSA Archives and Collections|date=8 December 2014|access-date=2017-11-15|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032555/https://gsaarchivesandcollections.wordpress.com/tag/ann-macbeth/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The School's Governors were extremely supportive of Macbeth during her time of recovery. Macbeth was given “every consideration until well enough to return to work.” This level of commitment highlighted a tacit approbation of artists advocating for the suffrage cause from the School's Governors.<ref>{{Cite book|date=2019|editor-last=Garrett|editor-first=Miranda|editor2-last=Thomas|editor2-first=Zoë|title=Suffrage and the Arts|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350011847|doi=10.5040/9781350011847|isbn=9781350011847|s2cid=158163466 }}</ref>