This presentation was shared at the Fall 2022 conference of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC). The panel session consisted of three speakers and one moderator, including Jennifer G. Eidson from University of Maryland. Eidson presented about conscious editing work at University of Maryland in general, and for the AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department records in particular. The panel explored ongoing work in critical archival theory and practice at three institutions. Speakers presented case studies of current work that interrogates archival description, illuminates the role archives play in the construction and preservation of community identities, and illustrates the role modern technology plays in these efforts to preserve the past responsibly. The session covered how different institutions have worked to revise harmful, misrepresentative and offensive language in collection descriptions using both technology-based and human focused approaches. Speakers presented ways archives can address the messy and often harsh reality of our history, so that we may learn from it in the present, and harness it to produce a better future.