[7] During a preparatory meeting on 12 August, she notably intervened to affirm that only compulsory education could solve the problem of women's work.

[6] At the congress that took place in Paris from 2–10 October, she was the delegate for the Ligue française pour l'amélioration du travail des femmes ("French league for the improvement of women's work"),[6] of which she was the founder.

[8] Léon Richer, who was more moderate than her and whom she had broken off with,[7] objected to this name, which he considered to be too close to the "Société pour l'amélioration du sort des Femmes" ("Society for the improvement of the lot of women") that he had created and which had to be dissolved.

On 6 October she presented to the Congress a vast project organizing education for girls, with the objective of gender equality.

Beyond castes and distinctions between manual and intellectual work [...]"[9] The Catholic journal Le Mouvement social described her as a "socialist missionary"[10] but echoed the speech she had given at Lyon and the objectives that she had fixed in l'Union et protection mutuelle des femmes.

[11] For the election to the chair of the board of one of the meetings, her name was acclaimed, but after discussion she was excluded from the position, because the law did not allow women as chairmen.

[12] On 2 February, she gave a long speech on instruction, professional training, and apprenticeship, which was interspersed with and followed by copious applause.

[13] She then took part in the workers' congress at Le Havre in 1880, where she represented "free and secular women teachers".

[16] Hardouin went to the station to meet Michel in November 1880 after she was released, but according to police reports she argued with her the following month.