Paul K. Van der Slice, 77, who taught history at Montgomery College for 37 years before retiring in 2005, died of cancer Dec. 9 at his home in Bethesda.

His daughter, Jennifer Van der Slice, confirmed his death.

Mr. Van der Slice specialized in the intellectual, social and cultural history of the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a subspecialty in utopian communities of the 19th century. For five years, he was chairman of the history department.

As a Smithsonian fellow in 1998-99, he organized a collection of primary source readings on labor in 19th-century American utopian communities....