Cindy--
 
A good place to start would be what Pound himself wrote in prose about
Walt Whitman--or at least his writings about the American poetic
tradition. You might try Pound's Selected Poems.  Emerson's writings
(especially The American Scholar) might also help, since Emerson was so
important to Whitman. Donald Allen's anthology The New American Poetry
would be very accessible and help you get some primary exposure to the
differences between Whitman and his descendants. I don't know anyone with
a love for literature who wouldn't benefit from Hugh Kenner's Pound Era.
William Carlos Williams's Autobiography has lots to say about the
relationship of the American Modernists to the past (and the future).
Finally, there was a pretty good article about Whitman in National
Geographic about two years ago.
 
By the way, the questions you are asking indicate that you seem to have an
excellent grasp of what's at stake in Pound's "Pact."
 
As for carving, remember that it was no idle figure--Pound knew two of the
great sculptors of the day, and any day: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (forgive my
spelling?) and Jacob Epstein.
 
This may be too involved for your project, but keep in mind that Pound
wrote two different versions of the "Pact."
 
Jonathan Gill
Columbia University